


Perceived Events

by Sephirotha



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: F/M, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:24:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3493358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirotha/pseuds/Sephirotha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Vincent, what are you doing here? I thought you worked the night shift?"<br/>"Yeah, well, something cropped up and they let me take the day shift. Is this Susan's replacement then?"<br/>"Yeah, this is Crystal. Crystal, this is Vincent. He's a security guard here at Freddy Fazbear's."<br/>When she stood in front of him that day, he just seemed like a nice guy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am ignoring the theory of ‘Purple Guy’ and ‘Phone Guy’ being the same person. This is my first attempt at a FNAF fanfiction and useful critique will always be welcomed.

It was the beginning of November when Crystal stepped into Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria for her new job as a waitress.  She needed the extra money because Christmas wasn’t too far away and was excited to get started.  She made her way to the gaggle of waitresses that were huddled by the kitchen door.

“Hey, I’m Jasmine,” one said as she held a hand out to Crystal “I’ll give you a quick tour of the place and give you the uniform.”

“OK,” Crystal nodded as she followed her, looking around with a soft smile.

The animatronics on stage looked a little bit creepy but she might get used to it.  Heck, the children around the stage seemed to like them so perhaps they weren’t so bad.

“So Scott will fill you in your first night Sunday, OK?” a security guard said as he cut in front of the waitresses and glanced at them “Oh hey there, ladies.”

“Vincent, what are you doing here?” Jasmine blinked “I thought you worked the night shift?”

“Yeah, well, something cropped up and they let me take the day shift,” Vincent shrugged “Is this Susan’s replacement then?”

“Yeah, this is Crystal,” Jasmine introduced “Crystal, this is Vincent.  He’s a security guard although not one of the reliable ones.”

“I’m good enough to have been employed,” Vincent folded his arms “So Crystal, scared of those animatronics yet?  It’s why Susan left.”

“Well, they’re…”

Crystal glanced at Toy Bonnie discretely then shrugged.

“…charming.”

The man beside Vincent snorted and Vincent rolled his eyes with a smirk.

“And this here is Jeremy, he’s taking the night shift,” he introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” Jasmine waved “May God have mercy on your soul.”

“Um, what?” Jeremy frowned and Vincent laughed, slapping him on the back then muttering something about work whilst ushering him out.

Crystal looked up at Jasmine who shrugged innocently.

“I wouldn’t want to be in that little office in the dark whilst those animatronics wander around,” she said and Crystal blinked.

“Why do they wander around?” she asked and Jasmine shrugged again.

“Something about their servos locking up, I don’t know, techy stuff,” she dismissed “So, let me get you your uniform, oh my God, you’re going to be so adorable!”

Crystal smiled as she followed Jasmine but not before turning to glance at Vincent who was waving Jeremy goodbye.  He then turned and smiled when he caught her eye, making her blush and disappear around the corner with Jasmine.

* * *

 

“Um, why do we have a security guard in the day time?” Crystal asked as Jasmine handed her a package in the backroom.

“Well since what happened in the last restaurant, we need more security,” Jasmine shrugged.

“The last restaurant?”

Jasmine turned to her with wide eyes and tilted her head.

“You don’t know?” she asked “You haven’t read it in the newspapers or anything?”

“Why?  What happened?” Crystal squeaked as she felt her neck sweat a little.

“The missing children incident, didn’t you hear about it?” Jasmine asked.

“Um, uh…” Crystal bit her lip “That one where five children disappeared from a restaurant?”

Her eyes widened.

“The last Freddy Fazbear’s was the restaurant?!”

“Now, now, Jasmine, there’s no need to tarnish the company’s name,” Vincent sighed as he entered the backroom, shaking his head “What’s past is past now after all and we all learn from our mistakes.”

Crystal looked up as the security guard gave her a lopsided smile.

“So, first day on the job, better not run off screaming like Susan,” he said as Jasmine rolled her eyes.

“Why, what happened with Susan?” Crystal asked and Jasmine snorted.

“She ran out when the restaurant opened a couple of weeks back, she saw one of the dismantled animatronics and something spooked her,” the other waitress explained.

“Oh my,” Crystal covered her mouth.

“Probably the smell,” another waitress wandered in “Jasmine, your break is over so get your ass back out there.”

Jasmine sighed as she took her tray and wandered out whilst the waitress smiled holding her hand out to Crystal.

“Grace, nice to meet ya,” Grace said as Crystal shook it “What are you doing here talking about creepy stories of animatronics and disappearing children?  You want her to do a Susan?”

“Hey, she asked for a history lesson,” Vincent shrugged.

“I just asked a couple of questions,” Crystal glared at him who just laughed and ruffled her hair.

“Seriously, just get out there and do your job,” Grace sighed as she began waving Vincent out of the backroom and sighing.

“…He’s nice,” Crystal raised her eyebrows with a weak smile and Grace laughed.

“Yeah, he’s got that charming aura,” Grace sighed as she placed her hands on her hips with a wry smile “But I don’t know…there’s just something that gives me the chills about him.  Maybe it’s because he’s a little older than us and has a history with the company.”

Crystal just shrugged whilst hugging the package to her chest.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, how was your first day, huh?” Vincent asked as he intercepted Crystal by the doors.

“Huh?” Crystal blinked and shrugged “Uh, well, not bad, not bad…”

“But…?” the security guard prompted and the teen sighed.

“There’s this thing…in the children’s area…”

“Oh, Mangle,” Vincent sighed as he nodded “Yeah, the kids just keep on tearing it apart so they made it a pull apart and put back together thing.”

“How horrible,” Crystal grimaced.

“Yeah, but it’s just an animatronic,” Vincent shrugged “Not like it has feelings.”

Crystal turned when her head when she heard a car horn sound and saw her father in the car in the parking lot.

“I need to go, that’s my dad,” she explained as she swung her bag over her shoulder.

“You sure look good in that uniform,” Vincent smirked and she hit his arm.

“Pedo!”

“Well, I like them young,” Vincent laughed.

“Urgh, Grace is right, you shouldn’t be working here,” Crystal huffed and the man simply laughed more when she stormed out towards the car.

Vincent’s smile darkened somewhat but Crystal just shook it off as her overactive imagination before hopping into the passenger seat.

“Who’s he?” her father asked and she shrugged dismissively.

“Co-worker,” she said “He’s a security guard.”

She smiled warmly when Vincent waved her goodbye as her father started the engine and began driving off.

“I know you hate it when I tell you things like this,” he muttered “But I don’t know if you should get too chummy with him.”

“It’s fine, it’s not like he’ll hurt me in broad daylight with witnesses everywhere,” Crystal sighed.

“Hn…”

Crystal’s father remained silent as he remembered the dark smile that had graced the security guard’s face but didn’t comment.

* * *

**In the next chapter…**

_“So why do the old animatronics smell so…rancid?”_

_“It’s kind of disturbing that they never found those poor children’s bodies…”_

_“No wonder there aren’t so many eager parents here…”_


	2. Chapter 2

Crystal smiled as she nodded to the song that the animatronics were playing onstage.  The children were enjoying the performance, greasy hands pawing the air and cheese smeared onto their faces.  She walked to the table with the tray of pizza and drinks, setting them down and smiling gracefully.

“Which one is your favourite?” the little blonde girl with pigtails asked, kicking her legs eagerly.

“My favourite?” Crystal said and looked at the stage thoughtfully “Well, I guess I like all of them…”

“My favourite is Chica because she’s a duck!” the girl said happily.

“Excuse me, miss,” the mother said leaning into Crystal “Do you know if they do birthday parties here?”

“Well, I should think so, I’ll have to ask,” Crystal said.

“Huh, you’d think anyone would be smart enough to not have a birthday party since what happened last time,” the moody teen boy sneered nastily as he leaned over what looked like the new Atari Lynx that had come out last month.

“Jack, behave,” the mother scolded and Jack scowled, grabbing a slice of pizza and stuffing it in his mouth.

“It’s true!” he protested “When it’s birthday parties and Freddy Fazbear’s, there’s bound to be a disaster!”

Crystal walked away as the mother scolded her son more and grimaced.

“What’s up?” Grace raised an eyebrow as the younger waitress approached her.

“Um, they were just wondering about birthday parties here,” Crystal replied.

“Oh right, yeah, I’ll go and tell them,” Grace nodded as she went down to the table with a pamphlet from the counter.

Crystal watched the pleasant scene of children enjoying themselves but the parents didn’t seem too enthusiastic to be around.

“Good day to you, my little Crystie,” Vincent popped out of nowhere, scaring the poor teen to jump, drop her tray and swing her hand in his direction.

He grinned as he caught her by the wrist and Crystal glared at him furiously.

“Don’t do that and don’t call me Crystie,” she snarled.

“Then Stalie?”

“No.”

“Crysta?”

“No.”

“Sweetheart?”

“Definitely not.”

“Babe?”

“Pedo.”

“You know it.”

Crystal yanked her wrist out of his grip, rubbing it tenderly.

“What do you want?”

“I wanted to say hi to my number one girl of the restaurant,” Vincent said as he folded his arms with a shrug.

“You think you’re so charming,” Crystal sighed “Are you sure this Susan didn’t leave because of you?”

“No because I was on the night shift when she was around,” Vincent said smugly.

Crystal was struggling to suppress her giggles and smiles in front of him.  She really didn’t want to humour him but there was just something about him that attracted her to him.  She sighed loudly whilst picking her tray up and turning away from him.

“Whatever,” she muttered.

Vincent smirked at her back before unfolding his arms and stepping forward so he was nearly pressed against her back, looking down at her.

“Say,” he purred near her ear, making her tense “The technicians are coming today to fix up the animatronics, improve them a little bit.  We’ve taken some parts off the original robots but I left the box in the backroom.  Could you go and get them?”

“Why me, can’t you do it?” Crystal raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at him leering over her shoulder.

“I need to make sure the kids here don’t disappear,” Vincent sighed as he stood and looked at the warming scene of families enjoying themselves “Don’t want history to repeat itself, do we?”

Crystal didn’t quite catch the way his eyes narrowed at the singing animatronics on stage because she was already shrugging and making her way to the back room.

“They’re in a small cardboard box labelled ‘Spare Parts’ thanks, doll!” Vincent called.

“Don’t call me that either!” Crystal said sternly, backing up to point at him warningly.

Vincent just laughed as she narrowed her eyes at him and continued her journey to the back room.

* * *

 

“Bloody paedophile, he shouldn’t be allowed to work here.  No wonder there aren’t so many eager parents here.” Crystal muttered to herself as she opened the back room door and flicked on the light switch “Hm?  The lights aren’t working.  Great.”

She peered into the room and sure enough, she could make out a cardboard box labelled ‘Spare Parts’ from the light of the corridor she was in.  She made her way across the room before halting midway.

“What’s that smell?” she asked herself then covered her nose “Urgh, that’s gruesome, it smells like…like…”

Like the time she was walking down the road and saw a squashed squirrel, organs exposed and birds were picking at the rotting carcass.  But wait, why could she smell rotting flesh?  Was there a dead body in here?!  Crystal uncovered her nose slowly and gave some delicate sniffs before turning her head to the old Freddy animatronic.  Her eyes widened and she covered her nose again.

“Why do they smell…so…putrid?” she asked herself again as her eyes began watering “Surely they should have been thrown out…”

Remembering why she was there in the first place, Crystal turned and continued walking to the box of spare parts.  But when she got to it, the door swung closed, leaving her in a room of nearly pure darkness.  Crystal whimpered as she glanced over and saw the outline of the door from the light of the corridor.  With a brave nod, she turned and crouched to pick the box up.  But when she turned around fully, the rancid smell was stronger and she was met with two red lights.

“Ah…”

As her eyes adjusted more to the dark, she saw two rows of teeth in the bottom part of this thing’s…face?  Wires covered the top part of this…seemingly unanimated thing and Crystal began shaking uncontrollably, nearly losing her grip with the box she had in her hands.  She swallowed uneasily, not daring to move as she whimpered, suppressing any sudden noises.  When it continued to just stand there, the red lights staring at her as if observing her, she slowly and carefully stepped to the side.  Metal fingers suddenly grabbed her arm and she gasped at the brutality of the grip.

“L-L-L-Let go!” she stammered “Vincent?  Vincent, if this is some trick, it’s not funny!”

The dismantled animatronic suddenly let out a low, painful sounding groan.  Crystal’s heart rate soared as she stared at the animatronic with wide, petrified eyes when the wires brushed against her skin.  She began taking deep breaths, still in shock as she trembled more violently.

“Let me go!” she protested as she tugged at its grip.

It let out a distorted scream which provoked her to scream too and throw the box into the air to put space in between them then felt her knees collapse.  She began retching and hiccupping as the spare parts scattered around her, covering her mouth and hunching over, trembling and sobbing as the rancid smells grew stronger, the groans grew louder and her fear grew larger, gripping her heart and stomach.

“Please, please, just leave me alone!” she cried as she brought her hands over her head “Stop it!  Stop it!  I didn’t do anything wrong, leave me alone!”

“Hello?!”

Light suddenly flooded the room and a man in the security uniform was in front of her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.

“Hello, hello?” he called to her as if she’d been in a trance “What are you doing back here?  You’re not allowed to be here.  Didn’t Grace and Jasmine tell you that when they were training you?”

“V-V-Vin…cent…” Crystal choked out as she pointed to the fallen box “I…I…”

“Vincent?” the man echoed as he glanced at the box “Oh, the box of spare parts, right, but I told him to get it out…”

“He…he…” Crystal hiccupped between words and the man helped her up to her feet.

“Hey, hey, I’ll talk to him, you’ve just had a nasty scare,” the man soothed as he patted her back “You’re the new waitress, right?  Crystal, isn’t it?  No, you really shouldn’t be here…”

Crystal whimpered and wiped her tears away, still hiccupping.

“What were you doing just kneeling there in the dark anyway?”

“The…light wouldn’t turn on…” Crystal whimpered as she calmed down slowly “Then when I turned around there was…there was…”

“Oh, you must have seen one of the animatronics moving around,” the man said as he led Crystal out “Yeah, they tend to do that, not sure why though.”

Crystal was still shaking as the man rubbed her shoulder.

“Just telling you, don’t ever go back in there,” he instructed her “It’s your first week so we’ll just keep this to ourselves.  Oh, my name’s Scott by the way, I’m a security guard here at Freddy Fazbear’s like Vincent.”

“N-Nice to meet you,” Crystal murmured as she took a deep breath.

“Likewise,” Scott smiled “Say, which one of the animatronics got you scared?  Was it Freddy?  He normally moves around in the dark.”

“It…didn’t have a face…” Crystal answered timidly.

“Oh, Bonnie?” Scott frowned and checked the room “That’s strange, Bonnie doesn’t look like he’s moved.  Actually none of them do, you must have seen his eyes light up then, I suppose that’s what got Susan.”

“He was right…in front of me,” Crystal protested feebly “He was so close that I saw his teeth!  And it was so dark too…”

“I think you were seeing things,” Scott shrugged “Bonnie hasn’t moved from where I put him after helping removing the spare parts and I’m pretty sure they are all deactivated.”

Crystal gnawed at her lip unnervingly.

“So why do the old animatronics smell so…rancid?” she asked and Scott shrugged again.

“Guess they never got a bath, though I wonder what could have happened to make them smell so awful.”

Crystal pressed her knuckles to her lips as he gave her a friendly smile.

“Never mind, you’d best get back to work,” he said as he stepped in “Don’t worry about the spare parts, I’ll deal with it.”

As he closed the door between them, Crystal swore she could have heard a child’s giggle coming from the back room.  The figure at the end of the corridor observed her shake her head and go down the corridor to the main area with menacing eyes.

 

* * *

 

“And my darling Crissie is in one piece!” Vincent cheered as he wandered into the eating area near the end of their shifts and spotted Crystal mopping up the floor.

“Don’t call me that and Scott told me he sent you to get those spare parts!” Crystal said as she pointed an accusing finger at him.

“Yeah, well, meh,” Vincent shrugged nonchalantly “Just wondering to see if you had more courage than little Susie.”

“I nearly threw up, I got scared after seeing…Bonnie?”

Vincent laughed and missed the mop when it got swung at him.  Crystal glared at him before turning her back on him and continued mopping.

“Oi, Crystal, we’re heading out, just remember to check in with Scott before leaving, OK?” Grace said as she, Jasmine and a couple of other waitresses made their way to the exit “Just finish that area and you’re all good.”

“OK, bye!” Crystal called.

“And Vincent, no more scary stories,” a waitress with blonde curls pointed to the man behind her with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’m reserving the scariest for you, Cindy,” Vincent chuckled.

The gaggle of waitresses shared an almost identical filthy look as they left, Jasmine lingering briefly as if wondering if it was actually a good idea to leave the new girl with the creepy security guard.  Once they were alone, Vincent’s smile softened as he looked down at the teen.

“It’s kind of disturbing that they never found those poor children’s bodies…”

“You heard Cindy, no more scary stories,” Crystal said sternly as she mopped her way around him.

“It’s not scary, just disturbing,” Vincent shrugged.

“They’re synonyms,” Crystal leaned on her mop to glare up at him “Shouldn’t you be heading home?”

“Nah, I need to wait for Jeremy, it’s his first night and I just need to set him up for his shift,” Vincent sighed as he took a chair down and sat on it, watching her mop.

He continued watching her silently, Crystal not choosing to comment so the only sounds that could be heard were the mop getting dunked in the bucket of water and then getting slapped on the floor.  Crystal didn’t look at him as he glanced over at the animatronics, almost as if he was paranoid, when she picked up the bucket after finishing the area and putting it away.  She grabbed her coat, quickly ducked her head into Scott’s office to say goodbye and made her way out.  She was stopped by Vincent by the doors who handed her a cupcake.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” he said sombrely as she accepted it warily “I snuck this out of the kitchen for you.”

Crystal’s eyes narrowed warily and he chuckled, holding up a cupcake of his own and biting into it.

“It tastes good, no wonder it’s the most popular dessert choice,” he said with a friendly smile.

Crystal slowly brought the cupcake to her lips and sunk her teeth into the soft treat.  She closed her eyes and blushed at the flavours and texture, smiling slowly.

“Fine, you’re forgiven but I won’t always accept cupcakes as an apology,” she muttered and Vincent ruffled her hair.

“I’m glad,” he said, gazing into her eyes.

Before she could lose herself in his, the sound of her dad’s car horn sounded and she stepped back.

“I should go, bye!”

“See you tomorrow, cupcake!” Vincent called.

“Don’t call me that!”

“I was talking to the cupcake!”

And that time, Crystal actually laughed before waving and getting into the car.  Vincent’s smile stayed as he waved goodbye, watched the car leave the car park, waited for a minute or two before it disappeared.  It then returned with a darkened aura when Jeremy came around the corner.

* * *

**In the next chapter…**

_“You shouldn’t get too close to him.”_

_“There’s something about him that is chilling yet charming.”_

_“I wonder why that weirdo decided to have a purple streak done to his hair.”_


	3. Chapter 3

“Crystal, are you OK?” Jasmine asked as she and the other waitresses crowded around her as she came into the restaurant.

“Um, yes?” Crystal raised an eyebrow.

“He didn’t drug you or make a move on you or try to creep you out with stories about the animatronics and disappearances, did he?” Cindy asked.

“Well…” Crystal hummed as she looked down with a thoughtful look.

“Oi, oi, what’s this private little conference about?”

The waitresses, other than Crystal, bristled as Vincent approached them with a cocky grin, hands casually placed in his trouser pockets.  He approached the youngest waitress, gently tucking a strand of white hair behind her ear.

“Hello, cupcake,” he purred and Crystal prickled under his predatory gaze.

“Hello, creep,” Grace butted in as she stepped between them, protective arm looped around Crystal’s shoulder.

Jasmine looped her arm around Crystal’s other shoulder and the squadron of girls marched her into the changing room.  Cindy sat the young albino down and looked her straight in the eyes.

“You shouldn’t get too close to him,” she said sternly as the girls behind her nodded.

“Wh-Why not?” Crystal stuttered.

“Well, one you’re sixteen and he’s like ten years older than you,” Grace scowled.

“We’re just colleagues,” Crystal insisted.

“He wants more, the pedo,” Claudia shuddered as she sat down next to her “Look, I know you’re young, it’s nice to have some attention but attention from Vincent isn’t good.”

“It’s nothing bad, he hasn’t done anything to me,” Crystal shrugged.

“Really?” Jasmine folded her arms and raised an eyebrow “What happened after we left?”

“Nothing, he just mentioned that those children’s bodies were never found and gave me a cupcake before I left to apologize for sending me in the back room to get the spare parts.”

“That’s what he did to Susan,” Cindy snapped her fingers and pointed at Crystal “He sent her to the back room and it freaked her out, you got freaked out too when you went in.”

“But he said he had the night shift…”

“He came in early one day, she was mopping up,” Claudia sighed and shook her head.

“And why are you acting defensive for him anyway?” Grace shrugged “You don’t like him, do you?”

“No!” Crystal stood “No, I just find him…charming.  Yeah, that’s right.  He may be a bit creepy to you but underneath that, I see a good man.  There’s something about him that’s chilling yet charming.”

“That isn’t a good combination,” Jasmine insisted.

“Look, he may be a Prince Charming, but he’s actually a nut,” Grace snorted and folded her arms “I wonder why that weirdo decided to have a purple streak done to his hair.”

“Yeah, it’s strange,” Cindy wrinkled her nose.

“I like it,” Crystal insisted “Purple’s my favourite colour.”

She grabbed a tray and walked over to the door of the changing rooms, hesitating briefly before turning to her colleagues.

“I can take care of myself,” she insisted “I’ve dealt with bullies when I was younger and I can deal with someone like Vincent.  I don’t fancy him or anything, I just think he’s someone who is good company.”

The waitresses all gave her an incredulous look as she opened the door and flounced out to do her job.

* * *

 

Crystal yawned as she rubbed her eyes when her shift ended.  It was the first day she had school and the afternoon shift at Freddy’s, she was tuckered out.  She looked up sleepily as Jasmine came by and placed a hand on her head.

“Hey, I’m off now, need a lift?”

“No, my dad’s picking me up, I just need to wait for him,” Crystal replied as she yawned.

“OK then, keep an eye out for You-Know-Who.”

“Mmhmm…” Crystal murmured as she slumped in her seat, head on the table.

She heard her co-worker giggle and leave the restaurant then closed her eyes for a bit.  She tensed a bit when she felt someone sit next to her in the booth.

“Hello, angel.”

“No,” Crystal said moodily as she lifted her head and pointed at Vincent with a glare.

Vincent laughed as he casually placed his arm around her shoulders.

“Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on the spindle?” he taunted and Crystal swatted at him lazily.

“You pricked your finger on the spindle,” she mumbled and Vincent laughed again.

Vincent’s laugh faded eventually as he looked down at her.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you since the start of your shift,” he said “Have you been avoiding me?”

“I was busy doing my job unlike some people.”

Vincent pinched her cheek and Crystal tried to swat at him again but didn’t find enough energy to lift her hand.

“Crystal, you trust me, right?”

Crystal looked at him whilst perking slightly, watching as he chewed the corner of his lip thoughtfully.

“Well, yes, you’re a security guard,” she shrugged “Can’t I trust you because of that?”

“Sure,” Vincent shrugged “But can you trust me as me?”

Crystal tried to shrug his arm off but it was held steady.

“Um…”

“Without this badge,” Vincent showed his security badge on his purple shirt that was part of the uniform “would you be able to trust me?”

“Now, hang on, I’ve only known you for a few days…”

“Crystal, I need to know,” Vincent pleaded as he scooted forward when she scooted back.

“Yes!” Crystal blurted out and Vincent blinked in surprise.

He stared at her for a few seconds before falling back into his usual, cocky self.

“Of course you would, how can you not trust a face like mine?” he chuckled and stopped Crystal’s hand from slapping him.

“You…!”

“Excuse me?”

The couple jumped apart and saw Jeremy standing before them.

“Jeremy, you’re early!” Vincent exclaimed as he glanced at his watch.

“Well, yeah, the bus wasn’t late like usual,” the security night guard shrugged then turned to Crystal “Um, there’s someone in his car waiting for you, I think, I remember seeing your face in that car anyway when it drove past me.”

Crystal jumped to her feet and peered out to see her father waiting for her, an impatient look on his face.

“Yep, that’s my ride, bye!”

“Crystal!”

Crystal stopped at the door when Vincent stood and smiled at her.

“Let’s get some pizza together sometime,” he said and Crystal frowned.

“Mmm…no,” she said before sticking her tongue out and running out of the restaurant.

Vincent just laughed like that was the response he was expecting as he watched her go into her dad’s car.  He waved at her, smiling wider when she waved back as her father drove off.  His smile faded slowly whilst turning to look at Jeremy who looked mildly disturbed.

“Isn’t she a bit young for you?”

Vincent shrugged.

“It’s just a little harmless flirting,” he said, the cheeriness of his voice completely non-existent now “Why?  What are you going to do?”

Jeremy stepped back a little when the taller man walked up to him with a challenging look.

“Are you going to report me?”

There was a threat veiled in that question which Jeremy decided to heed.  He turned away and went to the security office as Vincent smirked, folding his arms.

“That’s what I thought,” he murmured.

His skin prickled as he heard the soft whirr of an animatronic turning its head and he looked round towards the stage where Toy Chica, Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie were watching him.  His smirk faltered somewhat before he decided to leave the restaurant.  Toy Chica slowly turned her head back to its original position.  Then Toy Freddy.  Toy Bonnie watched Vincent disappear out of sight before mirroring his companions.  Jeremy swore he heard a children’s laugh when he poured his coffee out that night.  But after checking the cameras, he couldn’t see any children in the restaurant so shrugged it off as his imagination.  However, that was it.  He couldn’t _see_ any children in the restaurant.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“I can’t understand why children would enjoy these creepy animatronics.”_

_“Crystal, I just wanted to assure you about the rumours you may have heard…”_

_“I promised to take you out for pizza, didn’t I?”_


	4. Chapter 4

“Yay, yay, play again!” a boy cheered after Bonnie, Freddy and Chica finished the birthday song.

“Now, now, you’ve listened to them sing you Happy Birthday five times,” the father said as Crystal cleared up their empty plates.

“But I want to hear them one more time!” the boy whined with a pout.

“It’s OK, sir,” Crystal smiled “Freddy and the others love making children happy.  How about just one more time?”

“One more time?” Freddy echoed her as the animatronics whirred back to life “Well, I would love to sing one more time.  What about you guys?”

“Aw, sure!” Chica nodded “Celebrating birthdays is fun, isn’t it, Bonnie?”

“Of course it is!” Bonnie said as he readied his guitar “Tell us, how old are you?”

“Seven years old!” the boy chirruped with a wide smile.

“My, my, someone is all grown up!” Chica tittered.

“Let’s sing you the birthday song!” Freddy cheered.

The parents smiled tiredly as their son clapped happily whilst Crystal turned her back to head back to the kitchen.

“I’ll go get the bill, shall I?” she offered to the nodding parents before walking off.

“But first, boys and girls,” Freddy said as she took a few steps “You must thank Miss Crystal for letting us sing you the birthday song.”

Crystal turned sharply on her heel, staring at the animatronics in disbelief.  That hadn’t happened when Jasmine led them to the table and activated them the last four times.

“You must remember your manners, even if it is your birthday!” Chica wagged her finger at the surprised parents and starry-eyed children.

“Altogether now,” Bonnie said as he strummed his guitar “One, two three!”

“Thank you, Miss Crystal!” the children and animatronics cheered at once.

“We love you, Miss Crystal,” Bonnie, Chica and Freddy said afterwards as they turned their heads to face her.

Crystal blushed before smiling awkwardly and making her way back to the kitchen.  Jasmine walked over to her trembling form with wide eyes.

“You OK?” she whispered.

“Why didn’t they do that for you?” Crystal asked and Jasmine simply shrugged.

“No idea, they never directly address the staff by their names like that,” she whispered “I don’t know, something is off.  I’ll ask Scott about it…”

Crystal hummed as she tapped information into the till and the bill came rolling out.

“I can’t understand why children would enjoy these creepy animatronics,” Grace wrinkled her nose as the animatronics happily sung Happy Birthday to the birthday boy.

“They’re charming,” Crystal shrugged “Creepy…but charming.”

“Crystal, honey, I think someone needs to educate you on the meaning of charming,” Cindy snorted as she plucked the bill out of the machine before the younger waitress could take it.

“That’s easy, just look it up and you find me!”

Crystal jumped as Vincent appeared behind her to engulf her in a tight embrace. 

“Bad touch, bad touch!” Grace snapped as she shoved Vincent’s forehead.

Vincent’s grip was too tight on Crystal however, so when he was shoved back by Grace, Crystal came tumbling down with him.  The waitresses gasped and bustled around the couple to haul Crystal up from the security guard.

“Oh, Crystal, are you OK?”

“Your virginity is still intact, right?”

“Oh, we’d never forgive ourselves if a kook like Vincent tainted your virtue!”

“Who are you calling a kook, Claude?” Vincent grumbled as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

“It’s Claudia to you!”

Vincent groaned as he stood up, glancing down at the gaggle of waitresses.

“Hey, Crissie, can I speak with you alone?”

“No!” the waitresses said at once.

“Please just call me Crystal,” Crystal meekly added.

“Crystal.”

Everyone turned to Scott who looked a bit concerned as he beckoned the youngest waitress towards him.  Crystal nodded as she followed him to the main security office.

“Please, have a seat,” he said and Crystal sat down in front of him “Um, well.  Ah…first of all…”

He swallowed and took a deep breath.

“Crystal, I just wanted to assure you about the rumours you may have heard…”

“Like what?” Crystal tilted her head curiously.

“Well, you know, stories that sort of come and go,” Scott hummed as he fiddled with his hands “We just want to let you know, although tragic and heart-wrenching, these…incidents have nothing to do whatsoever with the establishment.  Just making sure you know because we’ve had some guys trying to make an extra buck or two by spreading these stories.”

Crystal blinked before straightening up.

“Are you hinting at the missing children incident?” she asked.

“Crystal, please,” Scott sighed “It’s all in the past and we don’t need to dig anything up.  So if someone tries to bring it up, just avoid the subject, we don’t want any more scandals.”

“I know it’s probably not in my place to ask,” Crystal continued with an affirmative nod “But the culprit…”

“Crystal, you’re right, it’s not in your place to ask.”

Crystal flinched and sat back, nodding.  Scott sighed and took his cap off to glance at the cameras.

“You’re pretty friendly with Vincent, I see,” he casually mentioned and Crystal tensed “He hasn’t asked anything weird from you, has he?”

“No, he hasn’t,” Crystal shook her head.

“I assume you’ve put that backroom incident behind you then?”

Crystal shuddered at the memory and nodded.

“Please, sir, Vincent and I are just colleagues, there’s nothing weird, nothing strange…”

“Crystal, you forget,” Scott sighed as he reached out to press a knob on one of the screens “Everything that happens here is recorded on the security camera feed.”

Crystal flinched again when she saw the footage of last evening, when Vincent had gotten in her personal space and then later when Jeremy had come early.

“It’s just touching, he’s never made me feel uncomfortable,” Crystal insisted.

“Not yet,” Scott said as he pointed to the screen again.

Crystal looked and watched as Vincent advanced towards Jeremy in a menacing manner, intimidating him to leave.  Scott turned the feed off and looked down at Crystal.

“Crystal, you must promise me this,” he said sternly “You will come and see me if he steps out of line, OK?”

“Sir, I…”

“We don’t tolerate work relationships nor bullying,” Scott continued on “We just want you to feel safe.”

Crystal took in a deep breath and sighed.

“I promise.”

 

* * *

 

“Alright, Crystal, I have to leave early, got a date!” Cindy gushed out as she whipped her compact mirror and dashed out of the restaurant “I saw Vincent leave so just finish up and don’t worry, the animatronics are deactivated so nothing will come hurt you, OK, got to go, bye!”

Crystal watched the door swing close as she paused mid wipe in cleaning the table.

“Why would they hurt me?” she whispered softly.

“We would never hurt you, Miss Crystal!”

Crystal screamed and her cloth flew up in the air as she was faced with Bonnie who was behind her.  She stared at the animatronic with wide, fearful eyes until she heard a laugh from behind her.  She slowly turned and glared at Vincent who was holding a gizmo of sorts.

“We are so very friendly here at Freddy Fazbear’s,” he spoke into it and Bonnie spoke the same words as him “We love you so much, Miss Crystal.”

Crystal jumped a bit when Freddy and Chica joined in with the chime and sighed.

“That was you earlier?” she said as Vincent grinned, turning it off and Bonnie walked off “Wait, has that always been a thing?”

“Nah, just something I whipped up when I was experimenting with things,” Vincent shrugged as he set down two chairs and sat down “Come, sit.”

“What?”

“Well…”

Vincent shrugged as Chica wandered over with a big plate of pizza and set it in between them.

“I promised to take you out for pizza, didn’t I?”

Crystal sighed as she sat down and stared at the pizza thoughtfully whilst Chica returned to the stage.

“Vincent, I don’t know, my dad will be here soon…”

“Crystal, please.  Don’t let it go to waste.”

Crystal sighed as she took a slice and bit into it softly.

“So what did Big Bossy Scotty want from you?” Vincent asked as he picked up a slice and began eating.

“Nothing important,” Crystal replied.

“Crystal, babe, I know when you’re lying,” Vincent sighed as he sat back “Tell me.”

“Really, it’s nothing and don’t call me that.”

Vincent hissed through his teeth as he slumped.  Crystal shifted awkwardly as they continued eating in silence.  She glanced up at the camera that whirred round in their direction and Vincent suddenly stiffened up.

“You didn’t mention anything about me getting chummy or whatever, did you?” he uttered.

“No, but the footage he saw did raise concerns…” Crystal trailed off as she glanced at the door.

“Crissie, look at me.”

“Don’t call me…”

“Look.  At.  Me.”

Crystal glanced in his direction as he picked up a second slice.

“Crystal, I would never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable, honest,” he whispered “I promise.”

Crystal glanced back outside and stood.

“My dad’s here.”

“Crystal!”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Wait, Crystal, cupcake, wait!”

Vincent sighed as the door swung shut and glanced at the half-eaten pizza.  He suddenly flipped the table and whirled round to glare at the animatronics.

“Shut up!  Just shut up!  God, I’m surrounded by stupid idiots…”

He grumbled moodily as he gathered his stuff and stormed out of the restaurant.  Giggles erupted from all directions in the restaurant when the door slammed shut.  Giggles of glee, giggles of joy and ominous giggles of anticipation.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“I didn’t know there was a golden version of Bonnie.”_

_“Excuse me, miss, have you seen my daughter?”_

_“Vincent, what are you doing?”_


	5. Chapter 5

“Wow, Crystal, did you do something?” Grace murmured as she came up to Crystal as she cleaned a table “Vincent’s been giving you the cold shoulder and keeping his hands to himself.  You didn’t sleep with him, did you?”

“Of course not,” Crystal scowled and sighed “I don’t know, Scott probably said something to him to make him behave.”

They hummed and Crystal glanced at Golden Freddy’s performance.

“Claudia really can dance in that costume,” she giggled and Grace smirked.

“Yeah, she’s the only one who can fit in the costume, everyone else is too skinny,” she giggled “And you’re just too short.”

Crystal huffed and Grace grinned, ruffling her hair.  There was a cheer and the girls turned to see a golden version of Bonnie wander by with five children following him.

“Huh,” Grace hummed “I didn’t know there was a golden version of Bonnie.”

“Those children…” Crystal hummed and looked around “I hope Vincent’s keeping an eye on them so they don’t disappear…”

“Wait, where is Vincent?” Grace frowned as she looked around with her.

“Excuse me, miss,” a woman came up to them “have you seen my daughter?”

“What does she look like?” Grace asked as Crystal spied the group of children heading towards the back room.

“Um, ginger, pale skin about this tall…”

“Wearing a blue frock?”

“Yes.”

Crystal hummed as she gave the cloth in her hands to Grace before following the children to the back room.  Her eyes widened when she saw Golden Bonnie beckon the children in and rushed forward to grab the boy at the front of the group.

“Children, what are you doing here?” she asked in a cheery tone.

“Golden Bonnie is going to show us a surprise!” one girl giggled.

“Oh that sounds wonderful!” Crystal giggled as she crouched in front of them “But no-one is allowed back here.  It’s dangerous.”

“But Golden Bonnie would protect us!”

“Oh how valiant of him,” Crystal smiled “But your parents are worried.  You should go back to them.”

“Why should we listen to you, red-eyes?”

Crystal restrained her urge to scowl at the boy.  She had heard much more imaginative names than that.

“Red eyes are cool,” Crystal simply smiled “Red eyes are rare.  Isn’t it cool?  I’m a rare girl like Golden Freddy is a rare character.”

“And Golden Bonnie, so move it, lady,” the boy scowled.

“Now just you…”

“Yar har h-har!”

Crystal jumped when one of the old animatronics came waltzing down the hall and appeared beside her.

“Arr har, sh-shiver me timbers!” Foxy the Pirate exclaimed and the children cheered to see him “What b-be you doin’?  You you-young sp-sprogs shouldn’t be here!”

“It’s Foxy!”

Crystal stood and tried to keep a straight face when she smelt the rotting smell from him.  The children seemed oblivious to the stench as they jumped up and down with glee.

“You’d be b-best off back with y-yar parents, l-l-lads and l-lassies!” he said as he placed a hand on Crystal’s shoulder “L-L-Listen to Miss Cr-Crystal!  She’s a sm-smart one, she is only w-worried about your sa-safety!”

Crystal swallowed and smiled softly.

“N-Now, how’s about w-we g-g-go get you some lovely p-pizza?” Foxy continued and the children cheered as he began walking back to the main area “Yar har h-har!”

Crystal sighed softly as the children ran after him eagerly.

“Miss Cr-Crystal?”

Crystal looked up to see Foxy had paused to turn to her.

“Y-You’d best _(run)_ make s-sure he _(dies)_ d-doesn’t _(kill)_ do this a-again.  Fare thee w-well, l-lass _(help me)_.”

Crystal’s head was spinning when she swore she heard some words amongst the dialogue but shook it off when she turned and walked into the backroom.  She flicked the switch but the light was broken.  She sighed as she took a shaky step into the room when she remembered the last time she’d been in here.  She whimpered and trembled some more when the door slammed shut behind her and she shook.

“Now, boys and girls,” Vincent’s voice echoed in the room “The real party begins now.”

Crystal held her breath as she felt breath on the back of her neck and a hand brushed the back of her dress.  She sensed Vincent’s hesitation and a hand placed itself over her stomach.  She felt the ridge of his nose against her ear and a cold metal item against her back.  He inhaled her hair deeply.

“Crystal?” he whispered “What…?”

“Vincent, what are you doing?” Crystal asked.

Vincent didn’t speak as he hovered behind her, holding her to his chest and the metal thing pressed against her back left.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” he whispered.

“You shouldn’t be in here either,” Crystal retaliated.

“You should be doing your job.”

“So should you, we don’t want any more children disappearing.”

Crystal stumbled a little when Vincent brought her close and she felt his lips on the shell of her ear.

“I found a new costume,” he said “Do you want to try it on?”

“New costume?” Crystal murmured and gasped when Vincent took her hand and pulled her.

Her hand felt a fuzzy surface and there was a soft click.

“There, now we just unzip the costume like this…” Vincent whispered huskily as he guided her hands to unzip the back of the costume.

“Is it going to fit?” Crystal asked as she hesitated but Vincent guided her to put her arms into where the arms should go in the costume.

Vincent chuckled.

“It’ll be the perfect fit,” he whispered softly “Then you’ll be able to dance with Claudia.”

“Um, I don’t know about this…” Crystal shook as Vincent nudged her leg into one leg of the costume.

“Trust me, Crystal,” he whispered “You trust me, don’t you?”

Crystal barely made out Vincent’s smile and eyes when she turned her head to look at him.

“I…”

“Vincent!”

Vincent jumped away from Crystal when the lights suddenly went on and Crystal turned to see Scott at the door.  He looked like he’d been running as he caught his breath and glared at the security guard.

“You,” he breathed as he pointed at Vincent “No slacking off.”

Vincent let out a soft huff before smirking and grabbing his cap.  He put it on, brushed past Scott then glanced at Crystal.

“See ya later, cupcake,” he said before walking out to the main area.

Scott waited until he was out of sight before closing the door and striding over to Crystal.

“Get out of that costume now!”

Crystal fell over in her rush to yank herself out of the costume before her and landed in old Bonnie’s lap.  She winced as Scott helped her up and examined the Golden Bonnie suit.

“This isn’t right, Spring Bonnie is supposed to be at the other location…” he murmured and looked at Crystal “This costume isn’t safe, Crystal, he was trying to hurt you.”

“What?” Crystal whimpered as Scott took her aside and held the costume up.

“This costume is unsafe, it was banned by the company until it can be fixed.  Look.”

He pointed to the compressed springs and mechanisms within the costume.

“Watch.”

Crystal watched as he placed his head where the head was supposed to be in the costume and breathed in and out deeply.  He then snapped his head back in time too as the mechanisms quickly slid into place where Crystal would have been had she put the costume on.  Crystal stumbled away, covering her mouth.  She would have been sliced to pieces in that thing!  Scott placed the costume down and glanced at the door warily.

“Crystal, you shouldn’t come in tomorrow,” he advised and Crystal looked up at him warily “I’ll give you the day off…”

“Scott, what’s going on?” Crystal asked firmly “I want to come in, it’s fun working here!  Despite the boys calling me red eyes that is…”

“Crystal, this can’t go unnoticed,” Scott sighed as he gestured to the costume “He was trying to kill you.”

“But he wore this costume not too long ago,” Crystal said as she looked down at Spring Bonnie.

“He must have been careful not to breathe on the spring locks then,” Scott sighed “You know, Crystal, this isn’t safe.  I’m going to phone the police and they’ll be investigating into those disappearances.  Just to put the public’s minds at ease you see.”

Crystal stared at him in horror.

“You think he’s responsible!”

“Ssh!”

Crystal stared up at Scott as he covered her mouth.

“Crystal, why did you come back here?” he asked “Why did you come in here with him?”

Crystal hesitated and he grimaced.

“You see, those children might have disappeared like the others,” he said “Crystal, the evidence is there.”

Crystal closed her eyes and tears came out as she shook her head in disbelief.

“I can’t believe that he would do that,” she whimpered.

Scott gave a sympathetic smile and placed an arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s phone your dad, get you home and don’t come in tomorrow,” he said as he led her out “Get your things, meet me at the office where I can keep an eye on you and we can put this behind us.”

Crystal nodded glumly as she watched Scott jog down to the office and heaved a heavy sigh.

“Yar har h-har.”

She looked up to see Foxy walking past, his eyepatch going up then down as if winking at her then walking back to his place where he deactivated.  She swallowed and made her way to the changing rooms to grab her stuff.

 

* * *

 

Vincent waited.  He waited at the table where he and Crystal had spent the last couple of evenings together.  Two cups of coffee were set in the middle of the table as he waited, drumming his fingers on the table surface.

“See ya, pedo.”

“Stay safe, Gracie.”

Vincent watched as the blonde walked out with her backpack and glanced down at the coffees.  He delved into his breast pocket and drew out a strand of white hair.  He examined it curiously, carefully running a finger and thumb across the length, making sure not to break it.  He glanced at the changing rooms and at the kitchen before glaring at the stage where the toy animatronics stood watching him.  He gritted his teeth and looked back down at the hair in his hand.

“Vincent.”

He looked up and saw Scott come out from the office and walk over to him.

“We’re going to be under investigation,” he said as he leaned over the table to meet his gaze.

“Indeed?” Vincent raised an eyebrow.

“Just to keep the public at ease, you know how it is,” Scott said with a stoic face “Ah, coffee, you made an extra cup.  Ta.”

Vincent didn’t bat an eyelash as Scott took the second mug of coffee and breathed the steam in.

“Mmm, she’s a bit young for you, isn’t she?”

Vincent’s eye twitched a bit and Scott looked down at him challengingly.

“Oh no,” he said in realisation “She’s a bit old, that’s the problem.”

Vincent narrowed his eyes warily and Scott stared into them, wondering what insanities lurked inside.  He stepped away slowly, lowering the coffee mug.

“Jeremy’s going to be here soon for the night shift,” he said “You should get ready to head home.  See you tomorrow, Vincent.”

Vincent watched Scott leave and stood with his mug of coffee.  He held it under his nose, took a deep breath then threw it across the dining area.  He watched as it sailed across, spilling coffee then the porcelain smashed into pieces as it hit the wall.  Giggles erupted from everywhere and Vincent snapped his head to where the music box was as it began playing.  He stormed out angrily, pausing to look at the crying child at the door then disappeared into the cold, bitter night.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“Crystal, I told you not to come in!”_

_“I’m not the bad guy!  I’m just a bit surprising.”_

_“Crystal, babe, you trust me right?  It wasn’t me!”_


	6. Chapter 6

What was she doing here?  Crystal stared up at the restaurant, feeling a bit nervous.  Scott had told her to not come in but it would have raised questions at home, not that the fact Scott called her father to come and pick her up early didn’t bring up questions.  She managed to call it off as stress and she would feel better after a night’s sleep.  Crystal just didn’t want to make her parents worry.  With a deep breath, she nodded and walked in.

“Crystal!”

Crystal jumped as Scott strode forward and she swallowed.

“Crystal, I told you not to come in!” he hissed as Crystal shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t want to make my parents worried,” she whimpered.

“There she is!” came a bright and cheerful voice “The Princess of Freddy Fazbear’s!  Crystal!”

Scott was brushed aside and Crystal ended up getting a tight squeeze from Vincent who grinned happily.

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked as he pulled away before Scott could yank him away “You left home early, you’re not sick, are you?”

Crystal stared into his eyes before shaking her head.

“Um, no, just stressed,” she said.

“Oh that’s good!” Vincent grinned “I was so worried, Crissie.”

Crystal just smiled softly as she received a pat on the head.

“You’ll never guess what happened,” Vincent continued to smile cheerily and jab Scott in the chest with his thumb “Big Bossy Scotty here called the cops!  We’re under investigation for the disappearance of those children.  Can you believe it?”

“Uh…” Crystal and Scott shared a brief look “Wow, I thought that was all in the past…”

“Yeah, well, public’s demands,” Vincent chuckled with a shrug “You know how it is.”

“Crystal!” Grace called from the kitchen “Hurry up, girl!  Quit your flirting and give us a hand!  We’ve got more customers than usual!”

“Oh, coming!” Crystal called as she squeezed past the security guards and went into the kitchen.

Vincent was still grinning, even when he turned his head to look Scott in the eye.

“Isn’t she the cutest thing that’s ever walked through these doors?” he said and Scott narrowed his eyes.

“Vincent, do I need to remind you about the company’s policy about relationships in the workplace?” Scott said with folded arms.

“We’re just good friends,” Vincent sighed as he looked away with a bored face “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t seen you sneak a few glances at her.”

“You know you can’t get away for what nearly happened yesterday.”

Vincent looked at him and grinned.

“What?” he shrugged “I can’t entertain children?  I know it’s not part of my job description but seeing the delight on their little faces was simply a treat.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Oh, do I?” Vincent smirked as he leaned in closer so they could talk without the customers hearing “Those children just happened to be following me to the back room.  Crystal happened to come in and I thought it would have been a great idea for her to try it on.  Then that’s when you came in.”

“You were having her try the costume on in the dark?” Scott raised an eyebrow.

“You know how the light is in there, it always keeps breaking,” Vincent smirked wider “Scotty, you have to understand.  I’m not the bad guy!  I’m just a bit surprising.”

He snorted as Scott looked more suspicious.

“It’s not worth losing sleep, it’s not worth analysing.  And yet you called the police on us.”

“Vincent I have physical evidence of this,” Scott growled “The police aren’t just going to ignore you this time and you know it.”

“We’ll see,” Vincent shrugged as he stuck his head up “I highly doubt anyone’s able to see anything with the footage you have.”

He walked off.  Scott unfolded his arms and made his way to his office.

* * *

 

“So why did you leave early?” Cindy asked as Crystal picked up the order for a table.

“Oh, stress overload, nothing dire,” Crystal smiled as she carried the tray over to the table, Cindy close behind her.

“Really?” Cindy asked as Crystal greeted the customers with a smile whilst lying their pizza and drinks down on the table “Grace said you just went to the back room where Golden Bonnie had gone to then you were going home.  Did something happen?”

“Cindy, I don’t mean to be rude but could you stop being so nosy,” Crystal huffed as she walked back to the kitchen.

“But I’m curious, I’m just watching out for my girl!” Cindy pouted as she continued following her.

“Please, just let it go,” Crystal sighed as she went to the next table to clear it up.

“But I…”

“Crystal Griffin?”

The girls turned to see two men walking up to them.

“Yes, that’s me,” Crystal timidly said as she raised her hand.

“We just want to ask a few questions,” one of them held up an investigator’s badge.

Cindy’s eyes lit up when Crystal cringed as she imagined the stories running around her head and possible gossip she would pounce on without mercy.

“Sure…” she nodded and gave a look to Cindy before following them to Scott’s office.

She sat down in the main seat as one of the investigators did the same whilst the other stood by the door.  She glanced at the camera feed before focusing her eyes back on the investigator who got out his pen and notepad.

“Right, so how long have you been working at Freddy Fazbear’s?”

“Well this is my sixth day working here.”

“What do you know about the disappearance of the children?”

“Just that five children disappeared and the bodies were never found.”

“What is your relationship with Vincent Payne?”

Crystal opened and closed her mouth, glancing at the screen where she saw Vincent in one camera screen, staring up into it.  She jumped as his bright, expressive eyes stared straight into hers, as if he knew she was watching him.  She tore her eyes away from the screen and focused on the man in front of her.

“Colleagues,” she said firmly “We’re colleagues.”

They didn’t look convinced as she glanced down at her folded hands in her lap.

“We’ve seen video footage of the two of you from the security cameras,” the investigator by the door said “You’re on very friendly terms, aren’t you?”

“Well, he is quite the extrovert,” Crystal shrugged.

“Has he done anything to make you feel uncomfortable?”

“No!”

“Miss Griffin, we’ve been told you two were in the back room yesterday and the lights were off.  Could you tell us what happened?”

“Well the light wasn’t working and Vincent offered to let me try on the Spring Bonnie suit.”

“Miss Griffin,” the investigator that was sitting down sighed patiently “I don’t think you’re telling us everything.”

Crystal squirmed as she took another look at Vincent and sighed.

“I walked in after shooing the children back into the dining area,” she said resignedly “Vincent closed the door and…”

“Yes?”

Crystal hesitated as she looked back at the camera screen.

“He thought the children had come in probably because he said boys and girls as he closed the door,” she continued speaking “He then found out it was me and offered to let me try on the Spring Bonnie costume.”

“Even though it is a dangerous costume?”

“I didn’t know and he’d been wearing it before.”

Crystal covered her mouth as she got looks from the other investigators.

“He was wearing this costume?”

“I actually don’t know,” the young waitress quickly spoke “I saw Spring Bonnie go into the back room and the only person in there apart from me was him.”

She breathed in as the investigators shot a look between them and nodded.

“Thank you, Miss Griffin, that will be all for now,” the one sitting down nodded before getting up “We will be in contact should we need any more information.”

Crystal glanced at the camera feed briefly before getting up to go back to work.

* * *

 

“Phew!” Vincent sighed as he and Crystal walked out of the restaurant “Those interrogations were pretty intense, huh?”

“Yes, they were,” Crystal smiled politely as they stood outside in the car park “My dad’s here.”

“Why don’t I walk you home?” Vincent shrugged as he smiled at the protective glint in her father’s eyes.

“Well he’s here so I should take the ride,” Crystal stepped away and nodded to the car.

“It’s a beautiful evening and I’ll make sure no-one shady gets you,” Vincent shrugged as he stepped forward.

“It is a long walk…” Crystal glanced at her father’s impatient look.

“Good exercise,” Vincent cocked his head to the side.

“It’s cold,” Crystal shivered as she brought her jacket around her closer.

Vincent smiled as he took off his scarf.  Crystal stood still as her father stepped out of the car when he wrapped the scarf around her neck.

“Crystal?” her father called.

“There, feel better?” Vincent asked with a shrug “Cold doesn’t bother me.”

“I…”

“Vincent Payne?”

The couple looked to the sound of the voice as the investigators from earlier approached them.

“We’re arresting you under suspicion of the disappearance and possible murders of…” one of them said as he handcuffed him.

“Uh, Stacey Hawkins, Gary Wheeler, Lisa Day, Dorothy Hopkins, John Bates and possibly James Beck,” his partner read out from his notepad “Sorry, Miss Griffin, we have to take him in now.”

“What are you, nuts?!” Vincent snarled as he tugged at them “I told you the first time, it wasn’t me!”

“What’s going on here?” Mr Griffin asked as he walked over and placed an arm around his daughter’s shoulder.

“Nothing to see here, sir, we’re just settling a small matter.”

“It wasn’t me, God, you’re such idiots!”

“Sorry, Mr Payne, but recent events have made us realise the truth and new evidence has come up.”

“This is double jeopardy!” Vincent snarled.

“Alright then how about this?” the investigator smiled maliciously “Attempted murder.”

Crystal’s father’s reaction was immediate as he pulled his daughter away from him.  Crystal looked at Vincent apologetically as Scott wandered out.

“Sorry, Vince,” he sighed as he folded his arms “Can’t get out of this one.”

Vincent looked from him to Crystal and tugged at his restraints again.

“Crystal, babe, you trust me right?” he said as he stared into her red eyes “It wasn’t me!”

Crystal looked at him helplessly as he was dragged off.

“It wasn’t me!  You have to believe me!”

Crystal watched as he was pushed into the backseat of the investigators’ car and swallowed.

“I don’t know what to believe,” she confessed.

As Scott and her father began talking, she ducked her head and her nose brushed against Vincent’s purple scarf, sneezing when she got a nose full of his aftershave.  She wrinkled her nose and tensed when she heard the sobs of a child.  She looked to the entrance of the restaurant and walked over to the crying boy as her father loosened his grip to ask Scott more questions about the disappearing children.  She crouched down and he looked up at her.

_“You can’t trust him, Miss Crystal.”_

“Crystal?”

Crystal turned to see Scott and her father looking at her.

“Something up?” Scott raised an eyebrow.

Crystal turned and saw the crying boy had gone.  She jumped to her feet and backed off warily.

“Nothing,” she said and turned to her father “Nothing, let’s get home.”

“Alright, um Crystal?”

They glanced at Scott.

“Fazbear Entertainment are considering closing up at the end of this week then moving to a new location,” he said “You don’t have to come in anymore if you’re uncomfortable.”

“No, I like working here,” Crystal protested “And it’s hard to find jobs around, I need the money.”

“Well, sure then,” Scott raised his eyebrows and shrugged “Maybe you could come work at the new location?”

“We will have to see about that,” Mr Griffin said as he took Crystal’s hand “Come on, Crystal, we should get going.”

“Ah, bye, Scott,” Crystal nodded and followed her father into the car.

“See you tomorrow then,” Scott smiled and waved.

Crystal shifted in her seat as her father drove away.

“Crystal, this attempted murder,” he said and Crystal sighed.

“He had been wearing the costume not too long ago, he probably didn’t realise how dangerous it was,” she grumbled “Can we forget about it?”

“Crystal, Scott mentioned that you might have to give a statement in court,” her father said “This is big!  You could have gotten killed!  Why didn’t you tell us about it?”

“Because I don’t want you and mum worrying about it,” Crystal sighed “I just want to make sure I don’t step on a land mine since…since…”

Mr Griffin hesitated and glanced at her when the traffic lights turned red.

“Since Jasper fell ill,” he answered for her and Crystal cringed.

“And supposing Jade heard about it?” Crystal murmured “She would be unreasonable and she would have asked me to quit had they not taken Vincent away.”

“Well I should hope so!” her father boomed as he drove when the lights turned green “Crystal, I told you not to get too friendly with him!  I knew he was trouble from the moment I saw him.”

“You don’t know him,” Crystal bit back tears.

“Neither do you, it’s been barely a week since you started!”

Crystal cringed and folded her arms.

“Let’s just drop it,” she pleaded as she nuzzled her nose into the scarf “Just…drop it…”

She closed her eyes as the sound of children laughing rang in her ears like a broken record.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“We’re preparing for a birthday party tomorrow.”_

_“Crystal, could you put away the Golden Freddy costume for me?”_

_“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”_


	7. Chapter 7

Grace, Cindy, Jasmine and Claudia watched Crystal clean the same table over and over whilst staring into space.

“Wow and I thought with Vincent gone she’d be a bit more cheery,” Claudia murmured.

“Well maybe the shock of the arrest is still with her,” Jasmine suggested.

“She didn’t really have feelings for him, did she?” Cindy asked sceptically.

“It’ll be a bummer if she was like this tomorrow, the children do like her,” Jasmine sighed.

“Apart from those who call her red eyes,” Claudia snorted.

“We’re preparing for a birthday party tomorrow,” Cindy frowned “There must be a way to cheer her up.”

“Nah, she’s just bored, we haven’t had a lot of customers today,” Grace smiled and walked over to her “Crystal!”

Crystal turned her head to Grace slowly who approached her and took the cloth from her hand.

“Crystal, could you put away the Golden Freddy costume for me?” she asked whilst pointing to the limp costume on the stage.

Crystal blinked and nodded, smiling softly.

“Sure, it’s not too heavy is it?” she asked timidly.

“Well if someone like Claudia can dance around in it, it should be fine,” Grace smiled “Do you want help with it?  Need some company when carrying the creepy little thing over to the backroom?”

“Backroom?!” Crystal jumped and Grace winced.

“No, no!” she said “Forget I asked!”

“No, I can do it,” Crystal nodded “Just…give me a minute…”

She walked to the stage and the waitresses watched as she picked the costume up then glanced at the animatronics with an alarmed look.  They all frowned in concern as she walked through the dining area towards the backroom.

“That was weird,” Claudia commented.

“Maybe the animatronics gave her a spook,” Jasmine commented.

“That might be true,” Cindy said as Grace walked back to them “They’ve been acting strange around adults lately…”

“Not Crystal, they’ve been acting normal around her,” Grace shook her head “Because she isn’t an adult yet, they act around her just fine.”

“There must be something up with the animatronics, they’ve been acting weird since yesterday,” Claudia hummed as she folded her arms.

The waitresses hummed before being called out of their chat by Scott and bustled to work.

 

* * *

 

Crystal sighed as the light didn’t work again.  Really, was she not flicking it hard enough?  Crystal flipped the switch off and flicked it on with a bit more force but didn’t get any light.  She glared at the lightbulb before shaking her head, heaving the costume over her shoulder again and wandering in the darkness.  She placed the suit next to the Bonnie animatronic and sighed when the head rolled off.  She bent down and picked it up, staring into its black eyes thoughtfully.  She turned it to look at where one would have to stick their head through in order to wear the head and hummed thoughtfully.  She smiled and carefully pushed her head through, wrinkling her head when she smelt sweat and…blood?!  Her eyes widened in the sockets of Golden Freddy as she moved her arms to take the head off until she felt it crush her skull.  She choked and stumbled, her arms crossing around her body when she felt the crushing sensation in her body.  She breathed heavily and gasped when a sharp pain went through her head and she collapsed.

 _“An imposter took our life away,”_ someone whispered to her as her vision darkened _“now we’re stuck here to decay.”_

 

* * *

 

Crystal opened her eyes when the pain faded away and she was faced with five children.  She jumped to her feet and covered her mouth as five spotlights went on them.  They looked up at her with eyes full of terror, full of disbelief.

_“Why are you holding a knife, mister?”_

Crystal felt a chill pass through her as a tall figure went through her, spinning a knife in his hand.  She recognised the purple streak that ran through his ponytail.

 _“We’re going to have so much fun,”_ he laughed _“Now stay still, we don’t want to make a mess now, do we?”_

Crystal fell to her knees when her legs gave way and Vincent raised his knife.

“No!” she screamed “No, no, no, Vincent, no!”

Screams filled the air and she covered her ears, the smell of blood filling her nose as Vincent’s laughs, filled with insanity, filtered in between the horrid orchestra of gargling, screaming and crying.  She fell to her side, quivering and watching as Vincent grabbed a half dead child by her hair with his blood-soaked hand.

_“You love Chica, don’t you?”_

Crystal watched as she was dragged to the limp Chica costume and shoved inside.  There were more cries as the crossbeams, wires and animatronic devices crushed the child and Crystal began sobbing uncontrollably.

_“Now you won’t ever leave here, you should be so happy!”_

Crystal watched as he stuffed the other four children in the costumes, blinking when she saw him place the Golden Freddy head over the last girl’s head after putting her into the Golden Freddy suit.  She sat up slowly as Vincent stood, smiling down at her.  He turned and walked out as Crystal stared at Golden Freddy with sad eyes.  The door opened then closed.  It then creaked open slowly and another person went through her.  She then recognized that it was the Marionette from the creepy music box.  It placed its hand on the head and Crystal jumped when Golden Freddy rolled his head and let out a soft groan.  Crystal watched the Marionette did the same with the other animatronics that whirred to life.  They stood and surrounded Crystal as the Marionette helped her up.  Crystal stared at it uncertainly as it placed a hand over its face and took its mask off.  She jumped when she saw the face of the crying face of the child she saw after Vincent’s arrest.

_“You can’t trust him, Miss Crystal.”_

 

* * *

 

“Hey, wake up!”

Crystal woke up with a startled scream in somebody’s arms and looked up at the man who was looking down at her with a worried frown.

“J-J-Jeremy, right?” she squeaked as she caught her breath and Jeremy nodded.

“Crystal, I guess,” he murmured and cleared his throat “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

“It’s the middle of the night?!”

Crystal sat up and was hit by a bout of dizziness so she flopped back into Jeremy’s arms.  She groaned as she began to feel nauseous and Jeremy placed a hand on her forehead.

“You’re sweating, are you alright?” he asked.

“Just a horrible dream,” Crystal swallowed uneasily “Um, what time is it?”

“Around about quarter to midnight.”

Crystal stared at him in disbelief and slowly got to her feet with his help.

“I…I need to get back home…” she whimpered.

“You can’t,” Jeremy grimaced “The doors automatically lock at ten.  You’re going to have to wait until the morning with me.”

“But my father will be worried!”

“Look, look, tell you what,” Jeremy soothed her as he held her by the shoulders “Scott normally calls at midnight, let’s tell him what happened and he’ll tell your father.  Although, why are you here anyway?  I saw you come in here and just lie down.”

“No!” Crystal exclaimed and jumped when one of the animatronics moved and Jeremy tensed.

“Let’s get to the office, we should take a spare head for you so they won’t mistake you for an endoskeleton.”

“Why would they?” Crystal asked as Jeremy walked to the box nearby and found a Bonnie head.

“Well, something’s up with their systems and they mistake people after hours for endoskeletons,” Jeremy shrugged as he took Crystal’s arm and led her out “They stuff you in a costume which cr-”

“I get the idea!” Crystal interrupted him and nodded “I get the idea…”

Jeremy let them into the office and found a spare chair for her to sit in.  He glanced at the clock and turned one of the screens on, rewinding the footage.

“Crystal, are you sure you can’t remember this?”

Crystal watched with wide eyes as she watched herself walk towards the backroom, pause and look around before slipping into the backroom.

“No, no, the last thing I remember was putting the Golden Freddy costume away…” Crystal murmured.

She jumped when the phone rang and Jeremy turned the screen off before answering it.

“Hello?” Scott spoke through the phone “Hello…uh…what on earth are you doing there?  Didn’t you get the memo?”

“Memo?” Jeremy echoed as he and Crystal exchanged a frown.

“Yeah, uh, the place is closed down, uh, at least for a while.”

Crystal stared uncertainly at the phone.  That hadn’t reached her.

“Someone used the suits…” Scott continued talking “We had a spare in the back, a yellow one, someone used it…now none of them are acting right.”

Crystal winced when she remembered how the animatronics had been acting different around her and children compared to how they acted towards the adults.

“Listen j-just finish your shift it’s safer than trying to leave in the middle of the night.  Uh we have one more event scheduled for tomorrow, a birthday.  You’ll be on day shift, wear your uniform, stay close to the animatronics, make sure they don’t hurt anyone okay, uh for now just make it through the night, uh when the place eventually opens again I’ll probably take the night shift myself.  Okay, good night and good luck.”

“Wait, Scott!” Crystal called out.

“Crystal?!”

“Scott, I’m here too, could you tell my dad so he doesn’t worry?”

“Crystal, what are you doing there?!”

“I don’t know, I put away the Golden Freddy costume and just sort of blacked out…”

“Why were you putting the costume away, I told Grace to do that.”

“Grace asked me…” Crystal meekly murmured and there was a short sigh.

“But I saw you leave with your father,” Scott continued to talk “I saw you leave with him, I even updated him about, uh, you know, about Vincent.  You were there, I’m sure you were.”

“I found her in the backroom,” Jeremy spoke as he flipped through the cameras and checked the vents.

“I can’t remember anything between putting the costume away and Jeremy waking me up,” Crystal said helplessly.

“Maybe you bumped your head or something,” Scott muttered “Anyway, you will need to stay there, Crystal and I’ll call your father in the morning.”

“Or I could just take her home,” Jeremy offered “We don’t need her family to worry if we can get her home in time for her to slip in and pretend she’s been there all along.”

“Is that what you want, Crystal?”

Crystal paused as she looked at Jeremy and swallowed.

“I really don’t want them to worry,” she nodded.

“Well if you’re really sure but make sure to get enough sleep.  We don’t want you falling asleep if you want to work tomorrow.”

Crystal hummed in agreement as Scott hung up and Jeremy sighed.

 

* * *

 

“Bonnie!  Head!”

Crystal jerked as she grabbed the Bonnie head and pulled it on as Jeremy pulled on his Freddy head.  Bonnie paused to lean over the office desk and stare at them whilst Crystal heard her breathing in the head.  Bonnie lingered over her and brought his hand up which had the poor teen grab Jeremy’s wrist.  Jeremy squeezed her hand as they waited for Bonnie to move.  There was a tense moment as Bonnie pulled away then walked away.  Crystal let out a sigh and slipped out of the chair and onto the floor.  Jeremy pulled his head off and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright?” he asked and Crystal nodded as she pulled her head off and buried her nose into her scarf “Hey, I thought this was Vincent’s?”

Crystal looked up and nodded.

“He gave it to me before…he got arrested.”

Jeremy flinched and pulled away.

“Right…”

“I don’t understand how I got this though…” Crystal whispered as she took it off and rubbed her neck.

“Ah.”

Crystal looked up when Jeremy made a noise and he coughed.

“You’ve got something…look…”

Crystal looked at the reflection of a screen and saw a dot on her neck.  She carefully pressed her finger to it and withdrew it to look at the dark red substance.  A cold chill ran down her back as she heard a girl’s giggle.

“Did you hear that?” she asked and Jeremy frowned.

“No?”

_“Miss Crystal…”_

Crystal looked up and gasped when she saw Foxy at the end of the hallway.

“Ah, Foxy!”

Jeremy held up a flashlight and flicked it on and off at the animatronic which prompted it to retreat a few steps.  Crystal bit her lip as she saw the mask of the Marionette right behind Foxy but shook her head, nuzzling the purple scarf in her hands.  She didn’t dare tell Jeremy that the spot on her neck was blood from the Golden Freddy costume.

 

* * *

 

“It’s six!” Jeremy sighed as he pushed away his mug of coffee “Huh, I’m surprised that you managed to stay awake this long.”

“What can I say, it was a very…horrible dream,” Crystal murmured as she stretched herself out and yawned.

They stood and began making their way out, Jeremy offering his jacket to her when they were met with the bitter cold of the morning.  Crystal looked back at the establishment as they began walking across the parking lot and saw the crying child again.

_“You can’t trust him, Miss Crystal.”_

“Crystal?”

Crystal looked up at Jeremy and yawned.

“I guess I’ll be sleeping well when I get home,” she said with a smile and Jeremy just chuckled as they went around the corner to catch the first bus.

Crystal snuggled her nose back into Vincent’s scarf as she began thinking about the dream she had.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“Crystal, you look less lively, are you sure you’re alright?”_

_“Why is Mangle looking at us like that?”_

_“JEREMY!!!”_


	8. Chapter 8

“Happy Birthday to you!” Claudia sung with the others and clapped as the little boy blew the candles out on the birthday cake.

Crystal smiled weakly as the children cheered and she resumed to cleaning her table.  Grace and Jasmine frowned as Cindy cut the cake into sections after pulling the candles out.

“She’s doing it again,” Jasmine said.

“Yeah and she looks dead on her feet,” Grace huffed “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to ask her to put the Golden Freddy costume away.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jasmine snorted.

“Still, this is the last day, maybe she’s just upset?  I mean, being young and all and earning money, I remember what it was like getting my first job.”

“How about I talk to her, this time?” Jasmine suggested as she walked over to Crystal.

Crystal jumped when she placed a hand on her shoulder and looked up at the kind waitress.

“Crystal, you look less lively, are you sure you’re alright?” she asked with a smile.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Crystal nodded with a smile “There’s this spot on the table that just won’t go away…”

Jasmine looked down at the table which was so clean, she could see her reflection.

“Crystal, I don’t see a spot.”

Crystal looked down at the table then jumped away with wide eyes, as if she’d been spooked again.  She took a deep breath and smiled.

“Of course, maybe I should get glasses,” she giggled and looked towards the kitchen “Oh look, no-one’s at the till.”

Jasmine opened her mouth to speak but a child ran into her, directing her attention away from the disturbed waitress.

 

* * *

 

Crystal watched the children play whilst drumming her fingers on the counter.  Every so now and then she would think she saw something out of the corner of her eye and turn to see nothing.  And when something was there, it frightened her.  Blood.  On the tables, on the walls, on the chairs, on her hands.  It scared her.  But the most frightening thing yet was when Toy Freddy walked past and she thought she saw a streak of blood run out of his eye but in a blink it was gone.  She yawned tiredly and slumped on the counter.

“Hi, Crystal.”

She looked up and smiled at Jeremy who had stopped by.

“How many cups of coffee have you had?” she asked and Jeremy yawned before sipping his mug of coffee he was carrying.

“Too many to count,” Jeremy chuckled as he sighed “Hey, walking might wake you up.  Come on, let’s just do a couple of laps.”

“OK,” Crystal huffed and Jeremy laughed as she joined him and they walked around.

They watched the party and Crystal saw Jeremy glancing at the animatronics.

“How are they?” she asked.

“They’re fine around the children but with the waitresses and adults they just stare.  Menacingly too but maybe that’s just me.”

They walked past the stage and indeed, Toy Freddy offered to sing Crystal a song like he did with other children who walked by whilst Toy Chica and Toy Bonnie simply watched Jeremy who stared at them whilst they played.  They continued chatting, watching the small party and dodging the children that were running around with their balloons, their party clothes smudged with food until…

“It’s Mangle!” a girl cheered which drew their attentions to the dismantled animatronic which had crawled out of Kid’s Cove.

“Why is Mangle looking at us like that?” the boy nearby asked.

“I’m going over to say hi!” the girl giggled.

“OK, that’s strange, Mangle shouldn’t be looking at them like that,” Jeremy nodded as he walked over.

Crystal saw Mangle turn her head towards Jeremy as he walked closer and swore she saw blood on the animatronic’s fangs.

“Jeremy…” she whimpered as she walked after him.

_“If you think we are merely playing…”_

Crystal’s blood ran cold when she heard a young boy’s voice sing in her ear.

_“Then let’s fool around for a bit!”_

Crystal ran across the room, hand outstretched to Jeremy who stood before Mangle with a curious frown.

“Jeremy, wai-!”

CHOMP

“Ah…”

Crystal felt something warm splash across her face.  Her throat was dry as the little girl opposite her looked up in confused horror.

“Ah…”

Her heart was pounding, her head was spinning, her pulse was throbbing, her body was shaking, her eyes were watering.  This wasn’t a hallucination nor illusion.  It was real.  It was all real.

“Ah!”

Blood.  Blood everywhere.  Leaking down his face, down his clothes, down the metal face, onto the floor, on the walls, on the tables, on her uniform, on her hands, on her face, _it was on her face_!

“JEREMY!!!”

Crystal screamed and reality rushed back to her.  She covered her mouth in horror as she stepped back when an onslaught of screams and shouts reached her ears.  Mangle’s jaws were firmly lodged into Jeremy’s head.  Jeremy fell to his knees, eyes wide in shock as they stared ahead.  His head dropped forward and he slowly collapsed onto his side with Mangle still attached.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God!” she cried out as Jasmine fainted, Grace and Cindy were busy making sure everyone got out and Claudia slowly approached her “A-A-Ambulance…call an ambulance…”

“Crystal, come on, let’s go…” Claudia soothed as she reached out to touch Crystal.

“Call an ambulance!”

Claudia jumped and rushed to the security office to use the phone.  Amidst all the children’s cries, the women’s screams and the men’s shouts, Crystal felt like she was isolated as she stared at Jeremy’s convulsing form.

“J-J-Jeremy…” she whimpered and hiccupped as tears ran down her cheeks “Stop it…why?  He…never…”

_“Jeremy?”_

The crying boy hovered over the scene and stared down at Jeremy.

_“Oh.  We’re sorry, Miss Crystal.”_

He floated forward and landed in front of her.  Crystal flinched back as his ice cold hands reached out to cup her cheeks.

_“Don’t cry, Miss Crystal.  He hasn’t hurt you.  You need to make sure it stays that way.”_

Crystal flinched again as he stroked his fingers down one tear stream.

 _“Don’t cry…”_ the crying boy whispered.

 

* * *

 

Crystal was in the kitchen as the other waitresses talked to the police, talked to Scott and gave nervous glances at her.  She was in a chair all by herself.  She had Grace’s coat wrapped tightly around her.  She couldn’t stop seeing the crying child who was watching the scene and trying to urge her to be calm and get better.  She was still shaking and felt like the other people in the room were staring at her like a caged animal.  She felt like one.  She wanted to go home.  She just wanted to get out of this ridiculous nightmare. 

“Crystal?” Grace smiled as she brought her a cup of hot chocolate “I’m proud of you, you know!  Did you see Jasmine?  She fainted right on the spot!  Ha!”

Crystal smiled feebly at her attempts to cheer her up and looked down at the cup of hot chocolate.  Her eyes widened in horror when she saw a cup of blood with blood on the handle and blood leaking down the side.  She shrieked and jumped away, backing off as everyone gave her a look before stiffening when the crying child tugged on her skirt, as if to say it was alright.  She whimpered and clutched her hands together.  Scott slowly approached her and took her by the shoulder.

“Crystal, I’ve phoned your father, he’s coming to pick you up.  You can talk to the police when you’ve calmed down.”

“Does he know?” Crystal asked and Scott let out a soft sigh.

“Crystal, there are police cars outside.  I had to tell him.  Do you really want to face questions from him?”

Crystal’s shoulders sagged as she bowed her head.

“You should get changed out of your uniform.”

Crystal saw the blood stains on the white apron and flushed before bustling out of the kitchen.  She reached the changing rooms and began changing out of her uniform and into the casual clothes she had with her.  She felt cold arms wrap around her leg.

_“Miss Crystal.  You can’t ever come back here again.”_

Crystal swallowed as the boy rubbed his face into her.

_“You mustn’t.  Ever.”_

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“Don’t stay out too long, OK?”_

_“We just don’t believe in euthanasia you see, dear.”_

_“Hello, cupcake.”_


	9. Chapter 9

“JEREMY!!!”

Crystal screamed as the scene played out in front of her.  Mangle’s jaws stretched out wide, the shock in Jeremy’s eyes, the crying child who stood in the corner, watching and staring.  Then came that sickening chomp as Jeremy’s skull was cracked by the metal teeth.  The blood flew out and splattered across Crystal’s face.  She fell to her knees as Jeremy’s body crumpled before her.

_“We’re sorry, mister.  We’re sorry, Miss Crystal.”_

They thought he was Vincent!  They didn’t want to try and kill Jeremy, they were after Vincent!

“No…no…no…” Crystal whimpered.

Vincent wouldn’t!  He wouldn’t kill children!  He wouldn’t!

“Crystal, you trust me, right?”

Crystal looked up to see Vincent crouching before her, hand outstretched towards her.

_“You mustn’t trust him, Miss Crystal.”_

Crystal glanced at the crying child who had a grip on Vincent’s wrist, straining to pull it away.

“Crys…ssss…”

Crystal looked at Jeremy in between them with wide eyes as his hand slowly moved.

“Urgh…agh…”

Blood everywhere.  On the floors, on the walls, on Mangle, on Jeremy, on the crying child, on Vincent, on the chairs, on the tables, on the doors, on the ceiling, on her uniform, on her hands, in her hair, on her face!  She screamed and covered her ears.

“I don’t know what to believe!” she cried out.

“Mister, stop it!”

Crystal snapped her head up as Vincent towered over the crying boy, knife raised.  Crystal lunged for Vincent and grabbed his waist.

“Vincent, no!” she cried.

A sharp pain suddenly shot through her neck and warm fluids ran down her neck.  She choked as she met Vincent’s bright blue eyes and saw him smirk.

“Crystal, it wasn’t me,” he whispered “You believe that, right?”

He leaned in, his cold lips hovering over her parted ones.

 

* * *

 

Crystal woke up with a gasp, sweating profusely as she stared at her pink curtains, chest heaving up and down whilst she pressed a hand to her rapidly beating heart.  She reached for her neck, feeling it to make sure it was alright and looked at her calendar.  Three months.  Three months of nightmares.  Three months since Mangle had bitten Jeremy.  He was still in hospital but paralysed.  It broke Crystal’s heart.  It had also been two months since Vincent’s trial and she didn’t have the chance to talk to him when she gave her statement.  Crystal shook her head and sighed.  It was Sunday, she had plans for the day, she was going to follow them through.

She got up, dressed and ran downstairs for breakfast.

“Crystal, good morning!” Mrs Griffin smiled as she dished out the eggs in front of her.

“You look unwell,” Jade said as she narrowed her eyes at her younger sister warily.

“I’m fine,” Crystal shifted under her sister’s scrutinising gaze.

“Jasper said that he heard you talking in your sleep again last night,” Jade said as Crystal poked at her eggs.

“Jade, leave your sister alone,” Mrs Griffin sighed.

“I’m worried, you’ve changed, Crystal,” Jade said as she picked up her drink of orange juice.

“I’m fine, Jade, shouldn’t you be more focused on work?” Crystal asked as she gave an annoyed look at her.

“What about you?” Jade asked challengingly.

“Jade!” Mrs Griffin said sternly as she sat down between the sisters.

“Finished it last night,” Crystal replied.

“What are your plans?”

“None of your business.”

“Crystal!”

Crystal placed her fork down after finishing her breakfast quickly as normal.

“Jade, I’m not seven years old anymore,” she said as she reached for her glass of water.

“Dad told me about that security guard who tried to kill you,” Jade said “There are plenty more guys from where he came from!”

“He didn’t try to kill me!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, rape you!”

“Jade!”

“Just shut up,” Crystal murmured as she stood, wiping remnants of water from her mouth “If you must know, I’m going to go to Jessica’s.”

Mrs Griffin smiled as she noted Crystal’s keyword for her.

“They predicted rain today, make sure to take an umbrella,” she said.

“I will,” Crystal said as she walked to the coat rack to take her purple scarf and blue coat.

“Don’t stay out too long, OK?” Jade said as she pushed her bacon around on her plate.

“I won’t,” Crystal smiled as she walked out.

Crystal shivered as the late winter breeze nipped under her coat and skirt whilst she made her way down the street to the bus stop.  She took the bus to the florist to buy a bouquet then take the next bus to go to the hospital.  She greeted the receptionist with a smile who nodded back as she made her way to the elevator to go up to Jeremy’s room.

“Morning, Jeremy,” she said as she walked into the room with the bouquet held out before her.

Jeremy’s eyes slowly wandered over to her as his parents stood up.  Crystal hesitated briefly before smiling at them too.

“Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald,” she said with a small nod.

“Oh, Crystal, dear,” Mrs Fitzgerald laughed “Please, call me Veronica.”

“Veronica,” Crystal said as Mr Fitzgerald took the bouquet from her.

“Crystal, dear, may we talk?”

Crystal nodded as the elderly woman took her out into the corridor.  She looked down at her warily as she gripped her arms tightly.

“It is very good for you to come and see Jeremy when you can,” she said with a kind smile “But I have a feeling you have something to tell me.”

Crystal glanced at the door to Jeremy’s room and her eyes watered.

“Mrs Fitzgerald…” she whimpered “He won’t ever be able to walk or talk ever again.”

Veronica sighed softly as Crystal clenched her fists.

“I’m sorry but it seems so…does he really need to suffer?”

“Crystal, I’m sorry about how you feel,” Veronica said as her eyes watered “We just don’t believe in euthanasia you see, dear.  But what I do know is that God allowed this to happen for a reason.”

Crystal bit her tongue to avoid talking against God.  She shifted on the spot and sighed softly.

“Oh yes, there was something else,” Veronica frowned “As a mother, I know when my son wants to say something.  This past week, he’s been staring at your chest.”

“My chest?!” Crystal blushed as she placed a hand over her bosom.

“Yes, looking up and down,” Veronica sighed “I know it doesn’t seem like him and I’m not entirely sure what he wants.”

Crystal froze when she gripped her scarf that hung over her chest.  She looked down and looked up at Veronica.

“No, he’s looking at my scarf,” she said “I always wear it like this, maybe he…”

Crystal held her tongue again.  Did Jeremy want to say something about Vincent?

“Maybe what, dear?”

Crystal looked back at Veronica and smiled.

“Maybe he likes it,” she said “I should be going.”

“Bless you, dear,” Veronica squeezed her hands “Bless you.  You were very brave that day.”

 

* * *

 

Crystal felt as dull as the sky above her as her feet moved by themselves.  People brushed passed her, gave her odd looks as they probably recognized her as that one waitress who witnessed the Bite of Eighty Seven up close.  It felt unreal.  Jeremy was now rendered completely dependent towards his parents now.  It truly broke her heart, perhaps if she had warned him earlier, he would be fine.  And what?  Get the bite herself?  Crystal could hear it over and over again in her head.  That sickening sound when those metal jaws pierced flesh and bone then into the frontal lobe.  Crystal felt a tear trail down her cheek and she stopped to wipe it away.  She then recognized the pavement at her feet and she looked up at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s building.

“Ah…”

She could just barely see into the windows.  She could see Toy Freddy, Toy Chica and Toy Bonnie on the stage.  She smiled, rubbing her eyes to stop the oncoming tears.  But as she looked back, she jumped when she saw that all of them were staring at her ominously.

_“I told you not to come back.”_

Crystal stepped away as she recognized that voice.

“I’m sorry, I’ll…”

“Hello, cupcake.”

Crystal’s heart leapt and she gasped softly.  She didn’t dare turn around.  So she waited, listening to the footsteps nearing her and felt the breath against her head.  There was a low chuckle.

“Aw, how sweet, you kept my scarf.”

Her heart was beating rapidly as she tried to steady her breathing.  This wasn’t real, was it?  But then again, news about his sentence hadn’t reached her.

“Crystal, babe, look at me.”

Crystal slowly turned around and saw a shirt with a dog tag hung over it, accompanied with a jacket.  She slowly looked up and saw the smiling, changed face of Vincent Payne.

“Cute as always,” he grinned as he rubbed his stubble thoughtfully.

Crystal tilted her head as she looked him up and down before taking a deep breath.

“…Hi…” she managed to make out and Vincent chuckled.

“It’s been a while,” he said “How have you been?”

“Fine…so they let you go?”

Vincent grinned wider as he nodded.

“Lack of evidence again,” he said as if he was bragging.

“Scott said he had camera feed,” Crystal frowned.

“It was corrupted.”

A chill ran down Crystal’s spine when he said that.

“And my statement?”

“Didn’t convince the jury enough to convict me,” Vincent shrugged “You were great up there.  I’m happy you came to support me.”

He placed a hand on Crystal’s head, ruffling her white hair with a soft smile.

“Your hair’s grown longer,” he murmured.

“You’ve had yours cut,” Crystal shifted on the spot.

“Yeah, had to get rid of the purple streak I’m afraid.  I need to keep a low profile since not everyone is happy about me dodging the sentence,” Vincent sighed as he adjusted his beanie.

“Everyone was expecting for you to be convicted, my family were convinced that…”

“Crystal, I’ve told you before.”

Vincent grabbed Crystal’s chin and smiled down at her.

“I didn’t do it.”

Crystal blinked as she remembered her dreams that she’d been having for the past few months.  She saw him covered in blood, holding his knife above his head, the children before him begging for him to let them live.  She swallowed hard and smiled.

“I believe you,” she said.

Vincent grinned as he grabbed her hand.

“You still trust me, right?”

“Of course.”

Crystal stared at the key he held up, spinning it on his finger.

“I still have my master key~!” he sung “Wanna go inside?”

_“Don’t.”_

Crystal looked back at the building to see the crying child in front of the doors.

_“I told you not to come, please, Miss Crystal.  Run away.”_

“Should we?” Crystal asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, let’s!” Vincent nodded as he dragged her over “Relive some memories!”

_“Please, Miss Crystal.  Don’t come in.”_

But Vincent was already unlocking the restaurant.  He was already dragging her in.  And the door slammed shut behind them.

“Woo, it’s dark,” Vincent murmured as he fumbled around in his jacket and found a flashlight.

He smirked at Crystal who stared at the animatronics that were watching them from the stage.

“Scared, princess?” he taunted.

“We shouldn’t be here,” Crystal said.

“How about we look around?” Vincent suggested as he pulled her deeper into the darkness.

“No,” Crystal whimpered as she dug her heels into the floor.

“I promise we won’t go into the backroom.”

Crystal stared at Vincent uncertainly as he squeezed her hand.

“Trust me.”

Crystal swallowed uneasily as Vincent led her to the Kid’s Cove, where Mangle lay unresponsive on the floor.  Vincent glanced down at it, scanning the flashlight up and down the disembodied body.

“They didn’t even clean the jaws,” he laughed and Crystal winced from behind him “I heard what happened to that Jeremy chap.  Nasty business that.”

Crystal felt her throat grow dry as she shuffled on the spot.

“I was there,” she murmured and Vincent hissed, looking at her.

“I know, I heard from the news,” he said with a sympathetic look “I’m just glad that it wasn’t me on duty that day.”

One of Mangle’s limbs suddenly fell, making the both of them jump, Crystal clutching onto Vincent’s arms.  Vincent laughed after the scare as Crystal whined, burying her face into his shoulder.

“Ssh, it’s fine, it’s fine.”

Crystal looked up at him as he reached out to trace her face.

“It has to be illegal to be that adorable,” he whispered as Crystal blushed.

Crystal backed away when he leaned in.  He followed her until her back was pressed up to the wall behind her.  He bent down, staring into her eyes, his breathing turning heavy.

“Crystal, cupcake, close your eyes.”

At his command, Crystal’s eyes fluttered to a close and she braced herself.  Her heart soared when a soft pair of lips met with hers.  She opened them again as Vincent pulled away, looking sheepish.

“Sorry, I can’t help it, it’s just…”

Vincent began rambling as Crystal’s hearing was blocked by her beating heart.  Her cheeks were burning, her breathing was quickening, what was this tightening in her chest?  She raised her shaky hands and gently cupped Vincent’s cheeks.

“Ah…I…” she stuttered as she looked up at him.

It was a crush after all.  A silly little crush, was this feeling natural?  She swallowed as Vincent grew quiet and stared down at her. 

_“Run, Miss Crystal!”_

_“Please, run away!”_

_“You can’t trust him!”_

_“Run while you can!”_

_“He’ll kill you!”_

_“RUN!”_

Crystal stood on her tiptoes to shyly peck Vincent’s lips.  Vincent was still for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her to kiss her back, dropping his flashlight.  It began to rain outside as the couple continued kissing in front of Mangle, who watched the spectacle in dismay.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_Crystal couldn’t move her body.  She could only watch as Vincent stood over her with a grin and a spoon._

_“Well, let’s get started, shall we?”_


	10. Chapter 10

**Note: I am absolutely positively unquestionably definitely indisputably truly really undeniably surely angry at Scott right now! He's going to release another game into the franchise? Now my story isn't going to be as accurate as I planned! It's ruined! Ruined, I tell ya! But nevertheless, I will continue writing this story because I have a firm idea of what I want even though it won't be as perfect as I had hoped. I still need to go through a couple of timelines before I finish and I should have plenty of time during the summer to finish it. I might write another story with a different original character and with new FNAF theories. Rant over, enjoy.**

* * *

Crystal couldn't remember how she ended up in the dimly lit room, lax on a hard, dirty mattress and unfeeling of anything around her. She felt as cold as ice, it scared her, she wanted to leave. She tried to move but she couldn't feel her body so she couldn't manage to lift a finger. She couldn't move her head either as she tried to look around. She was paralysed, why was she paralysed? How did she get here? She couldn't remember much before this point. She couldn't even close her eyes to try and visualise her last memory. Where was she? What was going on?

"Oh, cupcake~!" came a singsong voice.

Crystal tried to speak but her lips wouldn't even give the slightest twitch as Vincent came into her view.

"It's time to make you perfect," he breathed whilst licking his lips "I'm going to make you so perfect that you won't recognize yourself."

Fear seized Crystal as she tried to move, do anything, scream, plead, beg, anything! Vincent crawled over her, his breathing growing heavy as his breath grazed across his face.

"You're going to be so beautiful…"

Crystal couldn't move her body. She could only watch as Vincent stood over her with a grin and a spoon.

"Well, let's get started, shall we?"

He seized her by her hair and Crystal watched as the spoon come closer to her eyes. She couldn't struggle as the utensil dug into her socket. She couldn't protest as she heard the squelching of her eyeball being scooped out. She couldn't cry as she watched clear insanity cross Vincent's face. She could still see everything though. She could see from her eyes being taken away from her body, nestled in the palm of Vincent's hand. Her eyes were placed down on a surface and she saw Vincent pick up a syringe, his grin widening.

"This way I can forever gaze into your beautiful, beautiful eyes," he whispered as he injected them with the liquid inside "Your beautiful…red…eyes…"

He licked his lips again as he began wrapping her eyes with see through material then placing them in a glass box. He perched them on a shelf and Crystal could see the whole decrepit room, her eyeless body on the bed which was wearing the Freddy Fazbear's uniform. Vincent walked over to her lifeless body, reaching out and cupping her cheek, licking the blood off her face greedily.

"Mmm…so beautiful…"

He walked over to the chest of drawers nearby and took out a needle and thread. Crystal watched as he knelt over the body, stitching her eyelids closed. She felt her spirit form tremble as he began to strip her body.

 _"Vincent, stop_ ," she begged and sobbed when her pleas went unheard  _"Stop it. Don't look at me, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it please! Vincent!"_

Vincent sucked in a deep breath as he ran a hand down her pale body.

"Perfect, so perfect," he whispered.

_"Stop touching me! Stop it, leave my body alone! Please! Vincent, please stop!"_

She watched as he pressed his lips firmly against her lifeless ones and she shook her fists.

_"Don't do that! Stop it! Just stop it now!"_

She watched in horror as she heard the click of his belt and couldn't look away as he took his trousers off.

_"No!"_

She felt sick as Vincent crawled on top of her, leaning down to her neck and biting hard. He began moving, grunting softly as he held her cold body close to him and moaning.

"You're everything I imagined, cupcake," he whispered "Crystal, my little Crystal…"

Crystal's spirit covered her translucent ears as she could only watch in disgust whilst he violated her. She could only watch as he finished quickly and rolled off her limp body, lying on his side whilst running a hand up and down her body.

"What costume would you like to try on first?" he asked idly "I always thought you'd be adorable in that Spring Bonnie costume, but you said purple is your favourite colour."

He grinned widely.

"Purple is my favourite colour too~!" he sung and leaned in to gently bite her ear "Wait here for a moment."

Crystal watched as he shuffled around to pull his trousers back up then leave the room. She looked up and down her body in dismay, covered in bite marks and bruises. Vincent came in later with syringes, pots and a purple coloured box with a white ribbon around it.

"I'm passing down this golden opportunity," he sung whilst cleaning the syringes and injecting her body with unidentified fluids "Eternal scrapyard immunity. Take with pride and enjoy the ride, you'll be forever a part of this community."

He laughed and kissed her cheek sweetly as Crystal felt a shiver crawl up her back. She watched him take a sponge and clean up the remnants of dried blood around her eyes and face. She wanted to cry. Why would he do this to her body? Had he no respect for her? Vincent then took out a make-up kit and opened it to begin painting her face.

"I would have those children ready so you can be their mommy," he sighed "But that damn puppet…"

He clenched his jaw as he painted her face purple.

"Never mind, there are plenty more children out there," he grinned "Don't worry, my sweet cupcake. You won't be lonely when I have to leave for work."

 _"No, don't…"_  Crystal whimpered.

"How many children would you like?" he asked her "How about five? Yes, five little children, that's what my parents wanted. But I was the only one who didn't come out stillborn. My mother always talked about how she wanted to give me brothers and sisters to keep me company but it never happened you see. One stillbirth after the other until she finally kicked the bucket."

He chuckled ominously as he put the make-up away then opened the box.

"Look," he said as he pulled out a headband with purple ears "Bonnie ears! You can be old Bonnie because he's purple!"

He pushed her hair back whilst placing the headband on her and sighed.

"Perfect," he grinned then went back to the box "And look what it comes with~!"

He pulled out a purple Lolita dress and held it up to her body.

"You're going to be so beautiful!"

Crystal watched as he carefully manoeuvred her body to fit into the dress and placed a kiss on her painted cheek.

"Now, Crissie," he murmured as he walked a couple of fingers down her body "Would you prefer sons or daughters?"

 _"No, don't kill any more…"_  Crystal whined  _"No more killing please! Just stop, stop the killing, please, Vincent…"_

"I know! Three sons and two daughters! We can call them Freddy, Foxy, Bonnie, Chica and Goldie. Because they are so charming, aren't they?"

He grinned and kissed her cheek again.

"I won't be long," he said as he propped her up against the wall "Sit tight and smile."

Crystal's breath hitched as she saw him pinch her lips up into a smile where they remained.

"You're going to be a mommy."

He kissed her purple lips before clearing his stuff. He paused by the eyes and smiled, tapping on the glass gently.

"Aren't you beautiful?" he whispered "Now you can always see yourself looking this beautiful. Aren't you happy?"

He chuckled before leaving, closing the door gently. The light bulb flickered in the room as Crystal covered her mouth, staring at her smiling face and stitched up eyelids.

 _"No, no, no, this isn't happening!"_  she choked  _"This has to be a nightmare, please, somebody! Just tell me that this is a nightmare!"_

The light flickered again as Crystal sobbed, staring at her body which lay limp as a doll.

Rip.

_"Hm?"_

Crystal watched as the head of her body twitched a little, the lips wobbling slightly. The movements were faint, they would have been passed off as tricks of the light but Crystal could hear something tearing. Her head twitched a little more, her lips fell slightly so they weren't smiling anymore and her eyelids… Her eyelids were twitching, as if they were trying to open. The doll wasn't inanimate as it appeared. Crystal watched as her head twitched a little more violently, her lips falling down into a complete frown as her eyelids struggled to open.

…

…

…

RIP!

Crystal screamed as the eyelids flew open and red lights shone out from the black sockets where her eyes used to be. Her body grinned and laughed in a very Vincent like fashion as Crystal tried to look away, look away from the daemonic corpse that was once hers.

* * *

Crystal shot up from her nightmare screaming, sweat drenching her face as she stared at the storm outside her window. She looked around in a panic. This wasn't her room. No, wait, it was. This was where she's staying to go to university. Crystal looked at her calendar. Monday 1st November 1993. Yes, that's right, it's nearly been six years since she started working at Freddy Fazbear's restaurant then it closed down. She looked down at her bedside table where a picture of herself and Vincent was. She pressed a hand to her heart and jumped out of bed and faced the mirror, patting her face to make sure everything was in place. She then took her nightie off and began feeling around, finding neither blemishes nor bruises before she finally collapsed, sobbing and leaning her head against the cool surface.

"Thank God," she whimpered "Thank God, oh thank God, it was just a dream. It was all just a dream…"

She hiccupped and sighed, sobbing quietly against the mirror, unaware of the nightmare that was just coming over the horizon.

* * *

**In the next chapter…**

_"You are my main attraction, my chain reaction that never gets old…"_

_"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, boys and girls!"_

_"I have a terrible feeling that Scott's in trouble…"_


	11. Chapter 11

“That’s all for today’s lecture,” Crystal’s lecturer announced and everyone began packing up “I am expecting your essays for Monday so don’t forget!”

Crystal packed her things away as she prepared to rush home to get ready for work.

“Hey, Crystal!”

Crystal looked up to see her classmate, Tony, jog up to her.

“Tony, hey,” she said with a smile and nod.

“You don’t look so good,” Tony frowned and Crystal shifted, tucking some hair behind her ear “Work too much for you?”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Crystal sighed “I’ve just been having some rough nights…”

“Aw, shame,” Tony frowned “I was hoping to take you out for drinks tonight.”

“Oh, I don’t drink,” Crystal said as she picked her bag up and they walked out of the lecture hall.

“Well you don’t need to drink, you can have a non-alcoholic drink.”

“I have work and that essay to write.”

“Well we can spend the night working on the essay after your work.”

Crystal stopped by the entrance of the university and looked up at Tony.

“How many times have you asked me out now?” she asked with an annoyed look.

“Crystal, please, you’re a nice girl and I like you,” Tony shrugged “I want to hang out.”

“Well I’m busy,” Crystal sighed and a car horn drew their attention to the road “Oh and look at that, here’s my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Tony echoed as Crystal bustled down the stairs towards the dark blue car that was parked on the other side of the street.

He watched as the albino girl bent down to kiss the driver on the cheek and get into the passenger seat.  The driver glanced over at him, his eyes looking him up and down before giving him a smirk whilst driving off.  Tony watched the car disappear amongst the others, frowning softly.

“I didn’t realise you were into older men,” he said with a raised eyebrow.

* * *

 

“Who’s the scamp with the chicken legs?” Vincent asked as Crystal yawned tiredly, rolling her eyes at his question “You’re not thinking of leaving me for a younger man, are you?”

“His name is Tony, he’s on my university course,” Crystal replied “He’s been asking me out for a while, it’s annoying.”

“Why haven’t I heard about this?” Vincent demanded.

“Will you stop acting jealous?” Crystal glanced at him.

“How can I not?” Vincent huffed “I’m going out with the most beautiful waitress in the world and I’m nearly going forty.”

“Vincent, it’s fine, age doesn’t matter,” Crystal smiled reassuringly “There may be a bit of a gap but trust me, my parents have a bigger age gap.”

“Really?” Vincent frowned and glanced at Crystal “I’ve seen your father, he isn’t that old…”

“No, it’s my mother that’s older,” Crystal giggled “We have a sixteen year gap?  They have a seventeen year gap.”

Vincent snorted.

“One year,” he murmured “Hey, she’s the older one?  How old is she then?”

“Going to be eighty soon,” Crystal grinned at Vincent’s incredulous look.

“Wow, they must be a happy couple to stay together,” he whistled.

“Indeed…”

Vincent stopped outside her apartment block and stretched his arms.

“Right, go and grab your uniform and we can head over to Freddy Fazbear’s!” he smiled.

Crystal grinned and pecked his lips before getting out and running up the stairs to get into the block.  He leaned back and smiled softly, glancing down at where she had been sitting a while ago and reached out, plucking a white hair from the seat, another one to add to his collection.  He smirked and opened the glove compartment to place the hair in the test tube with the others he’d been collecting during the week.  He closed it afterwards and leaned back, sighing softly.

“You are my main attraction, my chain reaction that never gets old…” he hummed to himself.

He let out a soft breath and chuckled.  It took about fifteen minutes, as it always did, until Crystal came running down in the latest uniform and he whistled.

“I still think the first uniform you had when you first joined is the best,” he said and Crystal smiled, strapping herself in.

“Do you miss sixteen year old me?” she asked with a coy look.

“Kind of, yeah,” Vincent smirked as he started the engine and Crystal slapped him on the shoulder.

“Pedo!”

“You know it.”

Crystal didn’t respond or complain as they went down the streets and Vincent frowned at her distant look.

“Cupcake?”

Crystal looked up as Vincent focused on the road.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, um, I’m fine,” Crystal murmured softly.

“Crystal, I know when you’re lying.”

Crystal sighed and leaned back.

“I’ve just been losing a little sleep is all,” she said and Vincent narrowed his eyes.

“Something troubling you?”

“No, not at all, I’m fine.”

“You’ve been having nightmares again.”

Crystal shifted as they pulled into a nearby park where Vincent turned the engine off and turned around fully to face her.

“Crystal, you’ve been taking those sleeping pills, haven’t you?” he asked sternly and Crystal looked away “Crystal!”

“I don’t need them!” Crystal protested as she looked at him.

“You’ve been losing sleep with these nightmares, I’m worried that you’re not getting enough to concentrate on your studies.”

“It was just at the beginning of this week, it’s nothing,” Crystal insisted.

“You’re spacing out, it must have been a vivid nightmare.”

“It’s nothing!”

Vincent reached out to hold her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

“Crystal, tell me about it.”

He could tell it was about him by the way she looked up at him, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish before she turned away.

“It’s nothing…” she murmured.

“Crystal, I…”

Now she was clenching her fists nervously, she was getting uncomfortable.  It had something to do with his arrest.  Surely not, only he had that burden…  Or maybe it was spreading like a curse?  Vincent clenched his jaw before pulling away.  Time to change the subject.

“I know what it’s about,” he said and Crystal tensed “Your brother’s funeral is next week.”

He ignored the look in her eye when she looked back up at him and eagerly took the bait.

“Yes, yes it is!” she exclaimed “I mean, he just went so quickly and suddenly, it’s been all so much…”

“Yes, of course it has,” Vincent drawled “Well, I lost all my brothers and sisters when they were born.”

“Yeah I know.”

Vincent turned sharply to Crystal who nodded with a sombre look.  He never told anyone about the stillbirths his mother had after she had him.  He narrowed his eyes and started the engine.

“Crystal, I’m going to go to your brother’s funeral with you.”

“Oh, there’s no need,” Crystal said with a smile.

“And you can introduce me to your family.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’d…”

“Why not?” Vincent grinned at her “Your family afraid of an accused murderer?”

Crystal shifted uncomfortably and Vincent smirked.

“And you said your parents have a bigger age gap between them than us, so there’s no need to be worried about that.”

He smiled at her reassuringly.

“Crystal, you need a comfortable shoulder to cry on.”

Crystal looked away uneasily and swallowed.

“Well if you insist, I’d better give you a heads up about my older sister.”

“Hm?”

“She’s a black belt, loves going hunting, is on the paintballing team at her workplace, oh and she works as a dog trainer for the military and police and has a Rottweiler that she’s trained to attack anyone who attacks her very well.”

“Cupcake, you’re just saying that to scare me off.”

“Oh, I wish I was.”

Vincent laughed and grinned at her as she smiled shyly.

* * *

 

“Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, boys and girls!”

Crystal stared at Tanya who was in the Golden Freddy costume, hopping from one foot to the next and burst out laughing at her mortified face.

“Oh my God, Crystal?!” she screamed and covered her face “Oh this is so embarrassing!”

“Hm, who is this one, cupcake?” Vincent asked and Crystal unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Tanya, Vincent,” Crystal said as an introduction as she stepped out.

“Wait a minute, you.”

Crystal yelped as Vincent tugged her back in and kissed her on the lips.  She blushed as he grinned and bared his teeth.

“See you after your shift,” he murmured.

“Mm, how are you doing for work?” Crystal asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“With two accusations for murder and attempted murder hovering over my head?” Vincent sighed “Horrible.  Can’t even get a meagre job for minimum wage or even below that.”

Crystal looked at him sympathetically and he shrugged.

“It’ll be fine, I’d apply here but…”

He trailed off as he looked over Crystal’s shoulder and smiled.

“You know the policy about relationships in the workplace,” he said and kissed her cheek “See you later.”

He smiled as Crystal stepped out and drove off.  Crystal sighed and smiled at Tanya.

“You look cute, it’s fine,” she reassured the young teen who was still blushing.

“Waaaa, don’t look at me!” she whined and turned around fully.

Crystal laughed.

“Crystal!”

Crystal turned to smile at Scott but it disappeared at his look.

“Can I talk to you in my office?”

Crystal followed him into the small office and jumped as the doors went down when Scott pressed the buttons.  He took in a deep breath as he looked down at Crystal.

“Crystal, please tell me that wasn’t who I thought it was,” he said slowly and Crystal shifted uncomfortably.

“He doesn’t work here,” she said.

“He’s dangerous.”

Crystal sighed as she shifted again.

“That’s not what the jury thought when he stood trial twice,” she said.

“Crystal, we both know he tried to kill you.”

“He didn’t, you have no proof!” Crystal snapped.

“Because he corrupted it!” Scott snapped back.

“You know what?  I don’t have to take this,” Crystal sighed as she held up a finger “I trust Vincent.  We’ve been going out for nearly six years and he hasn’t tried anything.”

Scott hesitated with a blank look as he watched Crystal open one of the doors.

“I’m not sixteen anymore,” she said “I can take care of myself.”

“You’re still vulnerable,” Scott said.

Crystal glared at him before flouncing off to the dining area to work.

* * *

 

Scott flipped through the cameras with a soft huff as he did the night shift.

“Hey.”

Scott lifted his head and frowned when he saw Crystal with two coffee mugs.  She smiled softly and placed them on the table in front of him.

“Here, I made coffee.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, I wanted to apologize for being rude,” Crystal grimaced as she sat down on the table and sipped her coffee.

“During my night shift?”

“Well I’ve survived one night at Freddy’s, I can survive another,” Crystal smiled “Also, I thought you’d want company.”

“Crystal, it’s fine,” Scott shrugged as he flipped through the cameras again “I mean, it’s not like it’s my business like you said and uh…um…”

He lashed out, startling Crystal and slammed the door closed.  Crystal heard rushed footsteps run towards the door and hit it closed.

“Oh no, this is bad, they’re acting a bit early…” Scott breathed as he closed the other door when he heard groans.

“Scott?” Crystal whimpered as the Toreador March began playing.

“Oh no,” Scott breathed.

Crystal screamed as her whole vision went gold and a yell rang out before Scott’s cry of pain and the sensation of being crushed filled Crystal.

 

* * *

 

Crystal shot up from her nightmare, panting violently and covered her face.

“Stop it!” she sobbed “I took the damn pills!  So why?!  Why…?”

Suddenly dread seized her stomach and she looked up slowly, seeing the shadow of a child wavering outside her window and yelped.

“I have a terrible feeling that Scott’s in trouble…” she murmured before jumping out of bed and rushing to put clothes on.

It was dark and dangerous outside but Crystal still ran.  She tore down the streets in the cold early hours of the Saturday morning.  She didn’t know why she was running, it was just a nightmare, wasn’t it?  But why did she feel so uneasy then?  It had been six years since something horrible had happened that was related to Freddy Fazbear’s.  Scott couldn’t be in trouble, he’d been working at the restaurant long enough to know how to work with the roaming animatronics.  It was such a ridiculous idea!  Scott dying at the hands of the animatronics!  How preposterous!  So why wasn’t Crystal laughing?

By the time Crystal reached the restaurant and touched the doors, the clock inside struck six o’clock.  The doors unlocked and opened for her and she carefully walked in, a shiver running down her back and it wasn’t because of the cold weather.

“Scott?” she called “Scott?  A-Are you alright?”

There was a soft jingle of the Toreador March and Crystal saw Freddy walking down from the office and going onstage with Bonnie and Chica.  He laughed that sombre laugh and Crystal backed off down the corridor to find the power gone and no-one inside the office.  She swallowed uneasily before she stepped in and found Scott’s tape recorder.  She frowned as she picked it up, rewound it and began listening.

_“Hello, hello?  Hey!  Hey, wow, day four.  I knew you could do it.  Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow.”_

Crystal jumped when she heard loud banging in the background.

_“It's-It's been a bad night here for me.”_

Crystal swallowed as she recognized the banging from her nightmare.

_“Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you, uh, when I did.  Uh, hey, do me a favour. Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?”_

The banging was starting to get louder and more frantic.

_“I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won’t be so bad.  Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there.”_

Crystal’s stomach churned when she heard the Toreador March playing in the background.

_“You know…”_

Crystal’s eyes widened when she heard a low groan, similar to the groan she had heard from Bonnie at the last location.

_“Oh no…”_

Crystal dropped the recorder as a scream cut Scott off and the sounds of static were all that was left.  She ran down the corridor in a panic, fear gripping her heart.

“It’s not true, it’s not true, I can’t believe it…” she whispered as she opened the backroom door and saw a Freddy suit propped up on the table “No…no, I won’t believe it…”

Her heart pulsed as she slowly made her way around the table.  She looked at the Freddy costume uncertainly, peering into the head and gasping as she saw the eyes and the jaws.

“SCOTT!!!”

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“Crystal, why do you always seem to walk into trouble?”_

_“Can’t you see how important you are to me?!”_

_“My name is Mike Schmidt.”_


	12. Chapter 12

Crystal hunched over in front of the Freddy suit, the blood dripping onto the floor.  She rocked back and forth, crying in despair, in shock.  She sniffed pitifully as she tried to breath normally only to hyperventilate.

“Scott,” she whimpered and hiccupped “Sc-Scott, why?  Aren’t you supposed to be good at your job?  Why d-did you let them k-kill you like this?!”

She sobbed more, her hands covering her face to contain the mess of tears and snot.  Then the Toreador March started playing.  She looked up in shock, it was past six o’clock, shouldn’t the animatronics be deactivated?  Her heart began beating uneasily as she tried to look through the darkness.  Where was Freddy?  She couldn’t see him.  And yet the music was getting louder…and louder…and louder…  A sombre laugh suddenly cut through the music that was swirling around her chaotically and she screamed when hands grabbed her shoulders.

 _“Join us, be our friend,”_ Bonnie whispered behind her.

 _“Or just be stuck and defend,”_ Chica giggled as she entered the room.

_“After all you’ve only got…”_

Crystal’s eyes widened as Freddy appeared before her and reached out to cover her face with his hand.

“No, stop!”

* * *

 

“Crystal!”

Vincent shot upright with a shout, panting harshly as sweat trickled down from his brow and he sighed.

“Damn it, I thought they had gone by now,” he grumbled as he held his head “Such a headache, why did…?”

His eyes widened as he saw the crying child at the end of his bed, watching him with sullen eyes.  He stared at the spirit for a while before sucking in a sharp breath.

“Crystal…!” he choked as he jumped out and began scrambling around for clothes.

_“You can’t go.”_

Vincent ignored the child as he pulled on a shirt that was strewn across the chair and yanked some trouser up that had been lying on the floor.

_“You mustn’t.”_

Vincent grabbed his car keys and ran out of his apartment.  He zipped down the staircase, stopping only when the crying child blocked his path.

_“I won’t let you.”_

“And what are you going to do about it?” Vincent sneered.

The child hesitated as Vincent stepped around him, going out into the street then into his car.

 _“You can’t…”_ the child whispered.

“Why not?” Vincent challenged as he started the engine and glared at the child “Look, you’ve been haunting me for what, twenty years or more?  Surely you have better things to do.”

The child watched sadly as Vincent tore down the streets, heading towards the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria location.  His fears of the nightmare were confirmed when he saw the door was ajar, parked sloppily in the car park, snatched something from the backseat and stormed over to enter when five children spirits blocked his path.

_“You’re too late.”_

_“She’s gone.”_

_“You can’t save her.”_

_“Leave.”_

_“Or we can kill you too.”_

“Lies.”

The children wavered as Vincent narrowed his eyes.

“You were always bad at telling lies,” he said “You can’t hurt me whilst trapped in those costumes.”

He lifted up a crank used to disable the animatronics from his back pocket which he always kept in the car since he became a night guard.

“And I don’t see it likely that you’ll be able to hurt me through them.”

The children again looked uneasy as he walked right through them, ignoring the chilling sensation that crawled up his spine.  He stormed through the dining area, ignoring the way Bonnie, Freddy and Chica turned their heads so their eyes were on him all the time, then paused at the door to the back room.  It was ajar so he peered in, relief flooding him as he saw Crystal kneeling before the bleeding Freddy Fazbear costume, hiccupping delicately as she sobbed.

“Crystal!”

He came in, making the poor albino jump and looked up at him in disbelief.

“Vincent?” she whimpered “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Vincent retaliated “Crystal, why do you always seem to walk into trouble?  Did something happen?”

Crystal looked back up at the costume as he went around the table to place a hand on her shoulder.

“Crystal, cupcake, tell me…” he soothed.

“It’s Scott!”

Crystal gasped as she sobbed even more.

“They got him!” she shrieked and Vincent blinked in disbelief “They got him last night!”

Vincent slowly looked up at the bleeding costume and recognized Scott’s eyes inside.

“Shit,” he cursed as he cradled Crystal to him “Crissie, we need to get out of here.”

“But…but…”

Crystal had her face buried in Vincent’s chest so didn’t notice the seemingly imaginary glare Scott had with Vincent as Vincent pressed a kiss to her head.

“Crissie, let’s leave,” he whispered “Let’s go and take a walk, you need some fresh air.”

Crystal was reluctant but eventually followed him out of the restaurant.  They walked down the street for a while until Vincent steered her into the park nearby and sat her down on a park bench.  He sat with her, arm tightly around her shoulders as he cradled her to him, gently calming her down as she clutched onto him frightfully.

“Crystal,” he put on his serious voice after about fifteen minutes “Why were you there?”

Crystal swallowed as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“I had a terrible feeling,” she murmured.

“So terrible that you ran all the way here without proper shoes or even a cardigan?” Vincent frowned as he shrugged off his jacket to cover her.

Crystal nodded guiltily and Vincent sighed, shaking his head.

“Do you always follow these feelings you get in the middle of the night?” he asked.

“No…” Crystal murmured before sitting up straight “What about you?  Why are you here?”

“Well I was heading back home from a job interview,” Vincent lied naturally with a shrug “then I saw the doors open and thought it was strange so decided to come in.”

“And that…?”

Vincent smiled as he lifted up his crank.

“This?  Just in case, I didn’t realise it was after six,” he said and kissed Crystal’s forehead.

Crystal blushed as she relaxed on his chest, thumbing his shirt.

“Bit unprofessional to go to a job interview in these,” she frowned.

“Oi, this is my best shirt!” Vincent pouted “And I was much better groomed than this before some intern spilt coffee on the clothes that I did go to the interview in.  I suppose I won’t be getting that job maybe.”

“Hm,” Crystal sighed.

“Crissie…I think you should quit your job at that place.”

Crystal straightened up again with a look of horror.

“But why?” she asked.

“Well think about it, you’ve been having nightmares since the incident with Jeremy and now you’ve found Scott, I don’t want you to have to see anything else…unpleasant.”

“But I love my job, it’s fun to see the children…”

“There are plenty of other jobs that you can have that include working around children,” Vincent shrugged “And certainly other restaurants than Freddy Fazbear’s.”

“But none of them have animatronics which make the children so happy…” Crystal whispered.

“Um, yeah, there’s a good reason for that,” Vincent raised his eyebrows “Scott and Jeremy, don’t forget about them.”

“Vincent, please…”

“Crystal, I really want you to stop working there,” Vincent said firmly “It’s dangerous, what if there’s another victim that gets bitten?  What if it’s you stuck in a wheelchair without a frontal lobe?”

“Vincent, I love my job and I want to work there until I finish uni and start a career in medicine,” Crystal said firmly “In fact, no, I’m going to work there until I get my doctorate.”

“Crissie, think realistically,” Vincent sighed “The media hasn’t exactly been kind to Fazbear Entertainment since those children disappeared and they haven’t been getting good business lately now, have they?”

“Things come and pass,” Crystal shrugged.

“Crystal, please, I really would like it if you got a different job.  Preferably somewhere where there aren’t any animatronics killing people by stuffing them into suits.”

“No, I won’t!”

“My God, Crystal, stop being so stubborn!” Vincent raised his voice as they abruptly stood “Can’t you see how important you are to me?!”

“Why?!” Crystal shrieked “Why is it so important that I quit this job?!”

“Because, Crystal, I love you!”

Vincent’s breath hitched as it finally came out and Crystal stood in front of him, paralysed.

“And I don’t want you to get hurt…” he murmured, nearly speechless at himself “Or worse.”

He swallowed awkwardly and looked away.

“Um…let me drive you home, it’s dangerous to walk home at this time.”

Crystal gave a minute nod and they walked back to the car park.  The drive to Crystal’s apartment was silent and Vincent couldn’t shake off this feeling of dread.  How could he have been so careless to just blurt it out like that?  She could do better.  Much better.  And it hurt.  It was only when they arrived at Crystal’s block that he had the courage to speak up.

“You don’t have to say it back.”

Crystal’s hand hovered over the door handle.

“I just…wanted you to know.”

He closed his eyes and gripped the steering wheel, waiting for the sound of the car door to be opened then shut.  But it didn’t happen right away.  Instead, Vincent felt Crystal’s chapped lips against his cheek before he heard the door opening.

“Thank you.”

Vincent’s heart raced as he watched her disappear through the doors and smiled softly.

“Yeah, anytime…”

He sighed and leaned back.  Who knew that being in this relationship would be so stressful?  How much more can his poor, beating heart take, this isn’t very good for an old man’s health!  Vincent laughed dryly before glancing at the block again.  Another incident that was bound to cause hassle for Fazbear Entertainment and what’s more, it was Big Bossy Scotty who died!  What a laugh!  And what an opportunity.  Vincent straightened his spine in realisation.  An opportunity.  Yes, what an opportunity indeed.  He grinned to himself before driving off to head home.  He had some work to do.

 

* * *

 

“It’s very nice to meet you,” the interviewer shook Vincent’s hand before they sat down at the desk “I must say, I’m surprised by how fast you reacted to the advertisement.”

“Oh, a job here at Freddy Fazbear’s is an excellent opportunity,” Vincent grinned as he spoke with an altered accent “I mean, those incidents that the media is talking about?  I highly doubt it had anything to do with the company.”

“Not at all, not at all,” the interviewer nodded and sighed “Still, we are limited with our budget so I’m afraid you’ll have to work minimum wage.”

“Anything to pay the bills,” Vincent shrugged.

“Well, I’m glad you’re raring and willing to work here, Mr…um?”

“Oh, did I not tell you my name?”

“No, no, you didn’t.”

“Oh dear, how rude of me,” Vincent chuckled whilst shaking his head “My name is Mike Schmidt.”

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“This place is going to go out of business soon…”_

_“Vincent, I’m worried, what if they get you too?”_

_“Justice…will be served…”_


	13. Chapter 13

Today was the day.  Crystal took in a deep breath.  No going back now.  She gripped her fists tightly and let out a small whine.  She had to do it, no matter what.  She squeezed her eyes tightly and took in another deep breath.  Because today was Monday and today was the day that she had to…  Maybe she could just skip it and blame it on work and studying?  No!  No, she can’t do that!  She made a promise and she had to go through with it no matter how unpleasant it was if she wanted to stay living by herself at her apartment.  Yes.  Today was the day that Crystal Griffin…had to call home.

Now, Crystal loved her family and they loved her back.  But sometimes it felt like they were smothering her since she did get bullied at a young age and was never really good at making friends.  Had she found a boyfriend yet?  Well of course she wouldn’t tell them about Vincent, good God no!  Crystal was sure Vincent didn’t want to die by being eaten by Jade’s dogs then get battered around by her father who used to train people at the gym before he began working as a physical education teacher then becoming a headmaster.  And even if she did drop a hint about being in a relationship more questions would come up.  How long had this been going on for?  How about inviting him to Thanksgiving?  Inviting him to Christmas?  How serious is the relationship?  Is she being safe?  All that stuff and even more embarrassing questions Crystal dared not to think about.

With a shaky hand, Crystal gripped the payphone and raised it to her ear whilst pushing the change into the slot.  She sighed softly whilst dialling the number and listened whilst it rang home.  Please let Jade and her father be at work, they spent so much time talking to her to make sure things were alright and how she was holding up…

_“Hello?”_

Oh thank God!

“Hey, mom,” Crystal smiled as she managed to hold back a sigh of relief.

_“Oh, Crystal, good to hear from you!  Well talk about timing, your father has just left to go get groceries, would you like to call back later?”_

“No!” Crystal said a bit sharply “Oh, no, I wanted to see how you were, mom, because you know, next Monday is…”

_“Ah, yes, you are able to come, yes?”_

“Oh yes, of course,” Crystal nodded with a sad smile “But please don’t freak out when I say this next thing…”

_“Of course I won’t, honey, now tell me.  What’s up?”_

Crystal sucked in her bottom lip momentarily as she planned the next sentence in her head very carefully.

“I’m not going to come back alone.”

 _“Oh I see,”_ her mother said teasingly _“Who is he?”_

“…Someone I met at work and he’s going to drive me and come to the funeral,” Crystal said carefully.

_“And?  What’s his name?  How old is he?  Is he nice?  Have you met his parents?  Is he a customer or a co-worker?  How long have you known him for?  Does he go to the university with you too?  Where does he live?  Where is he from?  Is he really handsome?  Or cute?  Do you have a lot in common then?  What’s his shoe size?”_

What’s his shoe size?  Why did her mother want to know his…what?!

_“He isn’t part of a gang is he?  Does he have a criminal record?  Does he have any pets?  Does he enjoy sport?  Music?  What kind of car does he have?  Can he cook?  Has he had a lot of past girlfriends?  Or boyfriends?  Is he bisexual?  Has he done anything to make you feel uncomfortable?  Have you been to his place?  Has he visited you at your place?  Have you slept with him?”_

“MOM!”

Crystal felt herself blushing so much, her cheeks might as well be steaming in the chilly November weather.

_“Yes, Crystal, dear?”_

“He’s coming with me to the funeral.  That’s all I’m saying.  I’m going to be late for work so I need to go now.  Talk to you later.”

_“Aw, sweetie, are you sure?”_

“Perfectly sure.”

_“Ah-ha!  You have slept with him!  Did you use protection?  Did you need to take the pill?  Are you on the pill?  You don’t have an STD do you?”_

“I’m hanging up right now!” Crystal’s voice was a little high “See you next week!”

She hung up with a soft cough, her heart beating as her cheeks burned crimson.  She then hesitated a little.  Six years with Vincent and they hadn’t actually considered a physical relationship.  They’d only go as far as a soft grope but nothing too serious.  Did she want it to go further?  He claimed that he’d loved her, didn’t he?  Crystal wasn’t sure.  She hadn’t seen Vincent since he dropped her off after those three words came out.  He was probably busy looking for a job.  It must be hard for him, searching for work, he’d literally been scraping the bottom of the barrel for jobs.

Speak of the devil.  Crystal lifted her head to Vincent’s signature horn.  It wasn’t exactly at custom horn but the way he pushed it was undeniable.  It was a first few notes of the Toreador March meaning that he was ready to take her to work.  With a soft smile, she turned around to look for the car and hesitated.  Where was Vincent’s car?  She looked around confused until she heard it again.  Coming from the red car in front of her.  Vincent had a blue car.  And it wasn’t even Vincent in the driver’s seat.  But he still leaned over, scrolling the window of the passenger door down.

“Cupcake, we’re going to be late!”

Crystal’s jaw dropped.

“Vincent?!”

He’d changed.  Dramatically.  Gone was the long hair that Crystal adored, especially when it was up in a tail.  Gone were the bright blue eyes which were now green.  He shaved too, no more stubble that she would feel against her skin when they kissed.  And why was he wearing the Freddy Fazbear security guard uniform?  …Was he wearing something underneath that uniform to make his body look less muscular?

“Crystal, come on!”

Surely not.  Crystal walked up to the car and looked in.

“Vincent, what…?”

“I’ll explain on the way, come on!  We might get caught in traffic!”

Crystal opened and closed her mouth before getting into the passenger seat.

“Vincent, what the hell?!” she hissed as Vincent drove off and she fastened her seatbelt.

“I got a job.”

“I can see that!”

Vincent sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Look, Crissie, I sense that you’re not especially thrilled with this but you’ve got to trust me.  I just want to keep an eye on you.”

“Why all this then?”

“You think they’d hire me if I just strolled in and asked?”

Vincent huffed with a soft pout.

“Crystal, it’ll be fine, it’s nothing to worry about.”

“NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT?!” Crystal shrieked and Vincent cringed “Did you not see what happened to Scott?!”

“You work there,” Vincent whined like a little child.

“During the day when the animatronics aren’t out to kill me.”

“Now why do you think they won’t kill you during the day?”

Crystal glowered at him.

“They’re programmed to only roam freely at night, dummy.”

Vincent shrugged.

“Meh.”

Crystal was fuming by the time they arrived at Freddy Fazbear’s.  Vincent didn’t glance at her as he sat back and looked up at the building.

“This was the original location,” he murmured “Can’t believe they actually reopened it.”

Crystal’s fury wavered as Vincent turned the ignition off.

“Yeah, it’s creepy, this was where the children died.”

“And you’re only telling me this now after I’ve worked here for years?”

Vincent snickered.

“This place is going to go out of business soon…” he mumbled “I heard it going around.”

Crystal looked down sadly and shrugged.

“Mmhmm.”

“Crissie, do you wanna, I don’t know…move in with me when that happens?”

Crystal glanced at Vincent who unfastened his seatbelt.

“See, we could be able to support ourselves better financially and my place isn’t very far from your university so you can walk over there, get some exercise,” he explained “And if you want to stay being a waitress, there are restaurants nearby although they’re not really fast food restaurants like Freddy’s.”

“Can we talk about this another time?” Crystal asked “I have a lot on my mind right now.”

“Yeah, right, your brother’s funeral, sorry,” Vincent nodded as they got out of the car.

Crystal looked up at Vincent as they made their way towards the doors.

“Vincent, I’m worried, what if they get you too?”

“Relax, I’ve done this job before,” Vincent said as he ruffled her hair “At this place first then a week at the new location, remember?”

Crystal pulled a face and Vincent pecked her head.

“Oh yeah, you might want to call me Mike here.”

“Mike?”

“Yeah, my new name’s Mike Schmidt.”

Crystal raised a cynical eyebrow.

“You named yourself after a baseball player?”

Vincent shrugged with a grin before going in.  Crystal sighed, shaking her head before following him in.

 

* * *

 

It was a bit too quiet that night at Freddy Fazbear’s.  Dorothy didn’t like it.  She willed the animatronic she was confined in to move towards the office.  Was there another security guard already?  She didn’t like it, she didn’t like the security guards, all security guards were bad.  She would go first, just to check if there was someone there.  They all think it’s a fault in the animatronics but really, they just needed to find him and be put to rest.  Was this going to be the security guard to end it all?  She will have to see.  She was halfway down the corridor now, only a little further to go.

She would tell Lisa first.  She and Lisa were the best of friends since their confinement.  Dorothy wanted to reach out to Stacey too but she was rarely around.  Pity.  Then there was Gary who kept to himself too but sometimes jumped in to help catch the security guard.  He was very strong.  James often wandered out of the restaurant for some weird reason as well so he never showed in their games.  Finally there was John who would approach the office when the power went out.  He was weird for liking the dark.  But then again, boys are weird.

Dorothy approached the open door and saw the small light in the office.  There was a security guard!  But who was it?  She stood at the door and it didn’t take long until she recognized…

“Why hello, Bon-Bon,” he grinned and pulled out a crank “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

_“YOU!”_

Dorothy screamed as the first night at Freddy’s began.  James heard the scream and hugged his knees closer to his chest as he rocked up and down by the doors.

_“Justice…will be served…”_

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“Odour?  I don’t want to know.”_

_“Let it out, Crissie, I’m here so just let it out.”_

_“Wait a minute, I know you.”_


	14. Chapter 14

“You got fired?!”

Vincent shrugged dismissively as Crystal stared at him whilst they made their way to the funeral.

“Yeah, just after I finished last night’s shift,” he said.

“For what?” Crystal looked beyond confused and…suspicious?

“General lack of professionalism,” Vincent sighed “Odour.”

“Odour?  I don’t want to know.”

Vincent laughed at the way Crystal’s nose wrinkled and grinned whilst pausing for the traffic lights.

“Is that all?”

“Hm?” Vincent glanced at Crystal who looked very uncertain.

“Is that all?” she repeated “You’re not hiding something from me, are you?”

“Never, I would never hide anything from you, cupcake.”

And for the first time Vincent saw, Crystal didn’t look convinced at all.  Had he pushed her naivety a bit too far this time?  She rarely questioned him, will this be the day where she pulls back the curtain to see the truth he worked so hard to hide?  His heart nearly stopped.  Surely not.

“I see,” the albino murmured as she focused on the road ahead.

Vincent felt nervous as his throat clenched and he began moving with the traffic.  If she did find out then would that mean she’d leave him?  He can’t be sent to court again for being accused of the same crime so on that front he was fine.  However Vincent was struggling to think of a life without Crystal there.  He would be alone again, probably turn to alcohol again, maybe he would…murder again.  Something prickled the back of his neck and he nearly slammed his foot on the accelerator only to be brought back to his senses by the sounds of other car horns and he took in a deep breath to follow the traffic.  The journey was silent, eerily silent and it wasn’t until Crystal spoke when they stopped at the morgue.  Crystal blinked in confusion and Vincent shrugged.

“You would prefer seeing him without the crowd of tears, grief and mourning, wouldn’t you?” he said and Crystal looked torn.

She stared at him, opening and closing her mouth before he switched the engine off.

“Come on, funeral starts in an hour and they’ll come to collect his body soon before, won’t they?”

Crystal’s eyes watered as he stepped out and she followed him closely, like a girl clinging onto a stranger who promised to help her find her mother.  Vincent let her cling onto his hand as he asked to see Jasper’s body at the counter and with the sneaky slip of a couple of bills, the couple stood in front of Jasper’s lifeless form.  Vincent hugged Crystal tightly as she gripped his arms.

“Cremation or burial?” he whispered.

“Burial, to burn his body like this…”

Crystal hiccupped and gripped his arms tighter.  Vincent kissed her head whilst rocking her back and forth.

“How old was he again?” he asked.

“Sixteen.”

Vincent blinked in alarm and stared at the body.

“He looks a lot younger than sixteen,” he commented and Crystal sobbed harder which prompted him to rock her more and sooth her with gentle kisses.

“He wanted to grow up and study art,” she hiccupped “He always loved drawing, he spent most of his life in that room, just drawing and painting…”

Vincent felt Crystal turn in his arms and bury her face into his chest and sob more into his shirt.  Vincent hugged her whilst staring at Jasper’s body.  Sixteen years old, that was how old Crystal was when they met.  If things had gone differently…would it have been Crystal in that coffin?  Crystal let out a startled gasp when suddenly he hugged her tighter, burying his nose into her peach scented hair to try and drive out any distressing thoughts.

“Vincent…?”

 

* * *

 

“Let it out, Crissie, I’m here so just let it out.”

Crystal’s eyes were burning but she was more concerned about Vincent’s arms practically crushing her.

“Vincent, are you alright?” she asked as she placed a hand between them to attempt pushing them apart but it didn’t work.

“Crissie, do you want to sit anywhere in particular for the service?” Vincent asked “If you want, we can sneak in and sit at the back so you have some space from the others.  Or we could sit at the front so you can have closure and if you want to cry then cry.  Just don’t hold it in.”

Crystal leaned her side of her head on his chest and listened to his elevated heartbeat with a frown.

“Vincent, are you feeling alright?” she asked again as he stroked her hair, chin resting on the top of her head.

Vincent didn’t answer for a moment but before he could open his mouth, the doors opened.

“Crystal?”

Alarm bells rung in Crystal’s head as she turned and saw her father standing by the doors, ready to take Jasper’s body to the funeral service.

“Who’s this?” he asked slowly as Vincent let her go.

“This is…uh, this is…” Crystal bit her lip as she looked up at Vincent.

“Mike,” Vincent grinned before extending his hand “My condolences, no parent should ever have to bury a child.”

Mr Griffin looked sombre but accepted the hand with a grim smile.

“Thank you, it hasn’t been easy for us,” he said with a nod and Vincent wrapped an arm around Crystal’s shoulders to hug her gently.

“My family suffered the loss of five children,” Vincent grimaced.

“I’m so sorry to hear,” Mr Griffin looked overwhelmed “Your wife must be devastated.”

Vincent laughed dryly.

“No, no,” he shook his head “No, they weren’t my children.”

Crystal’s vision of Vincent being a dad had her cringe slightly as Mr Griffin blinked in surprise.  She caught Vincent’s look and it sent shivers down her spine.

“No, my mother kept having stillbirths after I was born,” he explained “She just didn’t take care of herself and my father was always too busy at work.”

He squeezed Crystal’s shoulder and Crystal felt dread crawling up her back.  His tone seemed off, was this a grudge.

“So I understand Crystal’s position to bury siblings,” he continued “I suppose in a way, it was kinder for us to bury the babies rather than watch them grow up with dreams and hope, only to be cut down so cruelly.”

Crystal reached out and squeezed her arm around Vincent’s torso.  Mr Griffin nodded before sighing.

“Well, Jade’s just outside, taking Cinnamon out for a walk before coming to help move Jasper’s body…”

“Jade’s here?!” Crystal exclaimed and the alarm bells went off louder “With Cinnamon?!”

“Cute name,” Vincent grinned and Mr Griffin smiled a little with a nod “What breed?”

“Cinnamon is her a hundred and ten pound German Shepard who is about two feet and three inches tall!” Crystal hissed and Vincent frowned.

“Are you trying to scare me, Crissie?” he grinned and Mr Griffin raised an eyebrow.

“Crissie…?” he said and Crystal swallowed harshly.

“Um…”

There was vicious barking as Jade brought Cinnamon in and Vincent blinked at how large the aggressive looking dog was.

“Crystal!” Jade said in that authoritarian tone she had adopted from being in the military “What are you doing here?  Who’s he?  Why is he so close to you?”

Cinnamon growled and Vincent narrowed his eyes at her.

“My, what a bark,” he drawled “Beautiful coat though.”

Jade made Cinnamon lie down at her feet and she eyed him warily.  Crystal wrapped her arm around Vincent’s and swallowed.

“Jade, this is M-Mike,” she said and Vincent grinned “He…uh, he lives in my neighbourhood and we met when I was waitressing at Freddy F-Fazbear’s one shift…”

Well it wasn’t a complete lie.  Jade sized Vincent up and sneered.

“On friendly terms, are we?” she asked slowly.

“Jade please, he was kind enough to listen to me when Jasper passed away and drive me here, just leave him alone.”

“He drove you here?!” Jade barked which set Cinnamon off again “You got into a stranger’s car?!”

“He’s not a stranger!” Crystal exclaimed as Vincent held up a hand in surrender when Jade glared at him furiously.

“Wait a minute,” Mr Griffin said as he pointed to Vincent “I know you.”

“No you don’t!” Crystal exclaimed a little higher and gave him a pleading look.

Mr Griffin studied her look, the look that pleaded for him to be ignorant for this time and talk later.  He nodded firmly before asking Jade to put Cinnamon in the car and gave Vincent a stern look.

“See you later, Mike,” he said with a slightly venomous tone to Vincent’s other name and nodded for them to leave before the others came to take Jasper’s body away.

Crystal dragged Vincent out hurriedly as he stepped to the side and Vincent smiled.

“Lovely family.”

He winced as Crystal thumped him on the shoulder.

 

* * *

 

It was chilly even though the sun was out for the day.  Crystal and Vincent huddled themselves together on a bench as the visitors circled Jasper’s grave, mourning, grieving and shaking their heads empathetically, expressing their disappointment about having to die so young.  Crystal sought shelter in his coat as he tucked her head under his chin, hugging her tightly.

“Vincent…” she whispered softly.

“Yes, cupcake?” Vincent replied.

Crystal fiddled with the purple scarf that was wrapped around both their necks as they continued to seek warmth from one another.

“You…wouldn’t hurt me, would you?”

Vincent blinked in alarm as he looked down at her.

“Never,” he said firmly “Never, why do you ask?”

Crystal looked up at him and Vincent saw fear.

“…Just wondering.”

“Just wondering?” Vincent echoed “Crystal, only a sick person would ever think of hurting you.”

_“A sick person like you?”_

Vincent snapped his head to the side and glared at the little boy in the distance, watching them.

“Good,” Crystal murmured softly, not noticing his sudden movement “Make sure to convince my father that because he’s coming over.”

Vincent looked up and sure enough, the bulky figure of Mr Griffin was walking over to them.  Vincent pressed Crystal closer to him.  A sudden image of her dead body, bloodied, bruised and cut up made him tighten his grip.  He didn’t want to ever to that to anyone again.  Ever.  Vincent nodded to himself.  The past was no longer a concern, what mattered was the future.

“Crystal…”

They looked up at Mr Griffin who stood in front of them.

“Could you leave us for a moment, sweetheart?” he asked.

“I think Crystal can stay if it’s to talk about me, sir,” Vincent purred as he put on his charismatic charm “What you want to talk about does involve her, correct?”

Crystal shifted as Vincent held her closer so she was on his lap and shifted to the side.

“Come, join us,” he said and Mr Griffin hesitated before sitting down next to them.

Crystal blushed as she leaned against him.  Vincent cradled her head into his neck and smiled at Mr Griffin.

“Sir, we are very serious in this relationship,” he said and Mr Griffin stiffened.

“You are much older than her,” he said with a hardened tone “And a murderer.”

“Accused murderer, sir, there was no evidence to incriminate me,” Vincent corrected him “The jury said I didn’t murder those children and I most certainly didn’t.”

Vincent affectionately kissed Crystal’s head and held back a smirk at the way Mr Griffin’s knuckles turned white.

“Father,” Crystal murmured “Vincent is a good man.”

“What do you work as?” Mr Griffin asked.

“Looking for employment,” Vincent replied.

“How long have you been together for?”

Crystal looked away as Vincent ran a hand through her hair.

“Six years.”

“Six years?!” Mr Griffin boomed “Crystal!”

“It just sort of happened!” Crystal squeaked as she burrowed herself more into Vincent’s coat “All we’ve ever done is kissed!”

“That’s true, sir,” Vincent nodded at Mr Griffin’s furious look “I would never do anything to make Crissie upset.”

“Dating a minor, you should be behind bars!”

“Father, please!” Crystal hissed as she caught Jade’s suspicious look from afar.

“Sir, I am very much in love with your daughter.”

Crystal blushed brightly as Vincent smiled wistfully.

“We have a sixteen year gap between us,” he nodded “But let’s be honest, you and your wife have a larger gap, right?”

Mr Griffin fell silent as he clenched his fists again.  Vincent looked solemn suddenly.

“Believe me when I say that I would rather die than to see Crystal get hurt.”

“Vincent…” Crystal whispered.

“It’s true, Crissie,” Vincent hugged her tighter “It’s true.  I promise you.”

Crystal shifted with that adorable blush still on her cheeks.  Mr Griffin set his jaw before standing, muttering something about considering their relationship and leaving them to hug each other tightly.  Crystal didn’t know why, but there was something haunting in Vincent’s words.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“Stay overnight?!  Won’t it be dangerous?”_

_“…too.  I…”_

_“Follow me, see a nightmare in action…”_


	15. Chapter 15

Vincent sat opposite Crystal in the café after Crystal’s final shift at Freddy Fazbear’s.  She stirred her tea thoughtfully, staring into the milky water as the steam met her nose.  Vincent cocked his head to the side before sliding a hand across to cover hers.

“Crystal, you don’t have to rush into a new job right away,” he said to her.

“Well what am I supposed to do with myself?” Crystal asked with a sigh “Suddenly, I have all this free time on my hands it’ll be a chore to work it into my schedule.”

“I can think of so many things you could do with it,” Vincent shrugged “More time to study, more time to spend with me, more time to sleep because you fell asleep on the way here, Crissie and you don’t look so well.”

“I’m fine, Vincent, trust me.”

Vincent twisted his lips uncertainly before sitting back.

“I do trust you but I worry.”

“Don’t, I’m perfectly fine.”

Vincent narrowed his eyes before smirking.

“You want to prove it?”

Crystal raised an eyebrow as Vincent leaned in with a challenging glint in his eye.

“Let’s spend the night at Freddy Fazbear’s tonight and if you are as fine as you say, you’ll stay awake until six.”

Crystal sat up in alarm, apparently completely wide awake now.

“Stay overnight?!” she exclaimed “Won’t it be dangerous?”

“Of course not, the animatronics are completely disabled and shut down now so we won’t get stuffed into any costumes,” Vincent scoffed as he waved his hand dismissively.

Crystal’s face fell at the mention of the animatronics.  She bowed her head.

“I forgot that they’ll be locked up in that place by themselves.”

“Crystal, they’re only animatronics.”

Both of them knew how false that statement was.

 

* * *

 

“I still can’t believe you talked me into this,” Crystal sighed as she and Vincent snuck into the building.

“You can never say no to me, cupcake,” Vincent grinned as Crystal wandered into the dining area “Crissie?”

Crystal approached the still animatronics on the stage with a sombre look.  They looked so sad to be deactivated and left alone to collect dust and cobwebs.  She was about to take a closer look when Vincent grabbed her arm.

“Hey, want to see the security office?”

Crystal blinked in surprise and nodded slowly, giving the animatronics one last glance before she swore she saw Bonnie move his head.  She shrugged it off and followed Vincent into the security office at the back.  She looked at how small the office was and a feeling of claustrophobia suddenly grasped her.  She glanced over at the poster and smiled, leaning over to push Freddy’s nose and make it squeak.

“Hi there, I’m Freddy!”

Crystal screamed as Vincent, with a Freddy Fazbear mask on, jumped her and began singing in a goofy voice.

“Wanna come and play?  I think you’re special, in your own way!”

“Vincent,” Crystal half breathed, half giggled “You…look…sound…pfft!”

“I’d love to sing a song with you,” Vincent continued as he wrapped his arms around Crystal’s waist “It’s my favourite thing to do…”

He leaned in so she felt his breath by her ear.

“‘Cause I love you through and through…”

Crystal blushed brightly and shied away from Vincent timidly.  Vincent tilted his head slightly as Crystal murmured something and took off the mask with a frown.

“Cupcake?” he murmured.

Crystal looked up at him, red eyes glistening in the light as she stared up into his bright, inquisitive eyes.  She opened her mouth and closed it again, making a few sounds.

“…too.  I…”

“Crissie, it might be my old age, but I can’t quite make out…”

“I love you too!”

Crystal’s hands flew to cover her mouth after the outburst and Vincent’s heart stopped for a split second.  He froze on the spot, gazing down at the younger girl in his arms, mouth opening and closing.  He took in a deep, shaky breath.

“You love me?”

Crystal blushed deeper as she nodded slowly and Vincent closed his eyes for a brief moment, taking it in.  She loved him.  She loved him!  He grinned wider than he’d ever grinned before.  Crystal Griffin loved him, Vincent Payne!  She loved him!  Crystal let out a surprised yelp as he swooped her off her feet and spun her around with a gleeful cheer.

“I love you so much, cupcake!” he cried as Crystal wrapped her arms around him “Crystal…my Crystal…”

He paused to place her down then leant his forehead against hers.

“Nothing else could make me happier,” he whispered to her.

Crystal’s head was still spinning a bit as Vincent kissed her deeply whilst pulling the ribbon off from her uniform.

 

* * *

 

Five am.  It was time.  Vincent stood from where he and Crystal lay in a mess of blankets and their clothes, quickly getting dressed and grabbing his crank.  He twirled it in his hand before walking out, his signature smirk appearing as he arrived in the dining area.

“Follow me,” he said and Freddy turned his head to him.

 

* * *

 

Crystal woke up to a loud clap of thunder and she sat up, grabbing her cardigan to cover her semi-nude state.  She blushed as she breathed in Vincent’s scent from the scarf wrapped around her neck and smiled shyly whilst glancing at where Vincent was…only to see he was gone.  She frowned and looked around, grabbing her uniform to slip on. 

“Vincent?” she asked whilst pushing her dishevelled hair back and peeking down the corridors “Vincent, where are you?”

She jumped when she turned and saw a little crying boy looking up at her.  He reached out and took her hand, making Crystal jump in horror at how cold he was.

 _“Follow me, see a nightmare in action…”_ he breathed before dragging her down the corridor.

“Um…” she frowned and stumbled “Uh…”

The boy suddenly disappeared and Crystal stared down at the parts, heads and limbs of the four animatronics.  She shakily crouched down to pick up Foxy’s head and heard a startled shout from the room next door.

“Get away from me!”

“Vincent?!” Crystal exclaimed as she placed Foxy’s head down and rushed to the next room.

She watched Vincent cowering in the corner, breathing heavily and glaring at her feet.  Crystal blinked in confusion and opened her mouth but Vincent beat her to it.

“Get out of here!”

He got up and ran to the other side of the room, panicking, his eyes wide and wild.  Crystal stared at him with a startled look, her jaw dropped wide open.  She frowned before stepping forward carefully.

“Vincent…?”

“Leave me alone!”

Crystal’s eyes widened in alarm as Vincent ran to the Spring Bonnie costume in the corner.

“No, Vincent, don’t…!” she screamed as he jumped into the suit with ease.

She held her breath, arms out, her legs shaking and her throat dry.  The leaking ceiling dropped a couple of drops and that was all Crystal could hear as Vincent stood still in the costume.  He then began chuckling before laughing loudly.

“G-Gah!”

Crystal’s heart stilled as time seemed to slow down when she heard the springs click and the mechanisms slide into place.  Blood spurted out of the costume as Crystal stared at the quivering body before it slumped into a sitting position.

“Ah…”

The stench of blood was thick…

“Vincent?”

The sound of gurgling mingled in with the little droplets landing on the cold tiled floor…

“Vincent…you’re not…this isn’t…Vincent?”

It choked her.  The smell of Vincent’s blood was choking her, she could practically taste it!

“VINCENT!”

Crystal collapsed to her knees, covering her ears and her eyes fixed on the body jerking and jolting.

“No, no, no, no…” she whined as she stared at Vincent’s eyes staring at her “Vincent…Vincent!”

 

* * *

 

Vincent could feel his eyes stinging over the pain as he could only see Crystal hunched over, sobbing and screaming in horror. 

“Sss…” he hissed out then twitched a bit more.

_“Justice…has been served.”_

Vincent stared in horror as the little crying boy with the other five children surrounded Crystal before disappearing.  Crystal suddenly stopped sobbing as she robotically stood and grabbed the hammer and boards around the entrance that he’d torn down.  Vincent could just hear her hammering the boards across the entrance and he hissed out again.  She was leaving him, she was leaving him here alone.

“Sss…”

The hammering echoed in the room.

“Sss…”

More and more hammering until it finally stopped. 

“Sss…?”

The hammer dropped onto the tiles and he heard footsteps.

“Sss…!”

 

* * *

 

Tony was out for his daily morning jog when he found Crystal curled up on the pavement, in front of Freddy Fazbear’s and in a waitress uniform.  He hurried to her side and crouched down, placing a hand over her cool, damp forehead before shaking her.

“Hey, Crystal!” he called gently and the albino stirred “Crystal, wake up!”

“Mmmph…Dad?”

Crystal’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Tony for a few seconds before wincing and holding her head.

“Ow!” she hissed as Tony held her by the shoulders “Oh, my head!”

“Hang on.”

Crystal whined as Tony gently cradled her head, feeling around for any injuries.

“No, nothing to worry about…” he murmured.

“Nnngh…I think I drank a lot…” Crystal whimpered.

Tony pulled away and gave her a sceptic look.

“I didn’t know you drink,” he commented whilst raising an eyebrow.

“…I don’t,” Crystal said as she stared ahead “But…this feels like a hangover and I don’t remember anything about last night…”

She trailed off, staring up at the restaurant before turning to Tony.

“I…I think I went through a breakup,” she whispered and Tony raised both eyebrows in alarm “He…said we couldn’t be together anymore.”

Tony hissed sympathetically before he helped her up onto her feet.

“Crystal, you should really drink with a friend to make sure you don’t wind up in places worse than here,” he said whilst holding her by the waist “I’m sorry about what happened, though, it must be rough.”

Crystal yawned as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.  Tony smiled kindly.

“Hey, how about I take you round to mine for a cup of coffee?” he offered “It’ll help the hangover.”

Crystal smiled up at him gratefully before nodding.  The two stumbled down the street as the crying boy appeared where Crystal had lain not long ago.

 _“We’re sorry, Miss Crystal,”_ he whispered as the other children appeared around him _“We really are.”_

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“Hey-Hey!  Glad you came back for another night!  I promise it'll be a lot more interesting this time.”_


	16. Chapter 16

Christopher sat back in his chair, eyes lazily following the edge of the glass before moving to check the cameras.  The stupid attraction had gone the extra mile to make the whole place decrepit, making his job difficult and his partner’s as well.  Speaking of which, said partner was late, as usual.  Christopher rolled his eyes as he flicked through the cameras.  He neglected to keep an eye on the door as someone peeked around the corner.  They slowly crept in until…

“Bwah!”

“God, fricking, damn it!” Christopher yelped as he turned in his chair as his partner laughed hysterically “Amber!”

Amber plopped down onto her chair, holding her sides whilst laughing.

“Oh, your face!” she giggled whilst pointing to him.

“Real mature, you’re twenty nine, grow up,” Christopher grumbled as Amber scuttled over to check the systems.

“Ah yes, the big three oh!” Amber sighed dramatically “Unmarried, unsuccessful and unhappy!”

“I thought you had your audition today,” Christopher frowned.

“Oh yes, that happened,” Amber raised an unimpressed eyebrow “Urgh, I hate TV work though!  I want to be onstage but nobody likes theatres as much anymore!  Nor do I get as many audition offers, stupid agent…”

“Maybe it’s time to switch to movies or video games?” Christopher suggested.

“Urgh, right, of course you’ll suggest those,” Amber huffed as her short twin tails bounced with her as she folded her arms aggressively, making the chair move “I always have to wear wigs or contacts because I don’t like dying my hair.”

“Being an actress is tough work,” Christopher shrugged.

“And what about you, hotshot bestselling author who’s wasting away here in this dump?” Amber grinned.

“Call it a writer’s block and you begged for company, remember?” Christopher shrugged again “Only because your stupid boyfriend doesn’t have the balls to stay in this place for six hours per night.”

“Ex-boyfriend.”

Christopher glanced up with a surprised look.

“Come again?”

“Ex-boyfriend, he’s dumped me for Daisy.”

Christopher’s knuckles cracked.

“I told you he was trouble,” he growled.

“I know, but I’m not entirely depressed,” Amber shrugged slightly “It’s not like we’re soulmates but I do want someone to settle down with soon.”

She sat back and set her feet up on the desk.  The phone rang and Christopher answered.

“Hey, Scooby!”

“Hey-Hey!” Scooby cheered “Glad you came back for another night!  I promise it’ll be a lot more interesting this time.”

“I certainly hope so,” Amber drawled as she twirled one of her tails.

“We found some-some great new relics over the weekend. And we’re out tracking down a new lead, right now.”

“And this is why the both of us are here,” Christopher whispered to Amber with a bored face.

“I’d rather be with him looking for this new lead,” Amber sighed rolling her eyes.

“So-uh,” Scooby continued “lemme just update real quick, then you can get to work.  Like, the attraction opens in like, a week, so we had to make sure everything works, and nothing catches on fire!  Uh-when the place opens, people will come in at the opposite end of the building, and work their way towards you, then past you and out the exit.  Uh-yeah.  You've officially become a part of the attraction.  Uh-You'll be starring as…the security guards!”

“Look at that Amber, we got a gig together!” Christopher grinned.

“Oh shove it,” Amber stuck her tongue out at him.

“So not only will you be monitoring the people on the cameras as they pass through, y’know, to make sure no one steals anything or makes out in the corner, but you'll also be a part of the show.  It'll make it feel really authentic I think.”

“Um, ew!” Amber protested “I don’t want to go over and split up some kids making out!”

“Hey, I’m sure there are plenty of other jobs out there, Little Miss Actress.”

Amber sneered as Scooby continued.

“Uh… Now let me tell you about what’s new. We found another set of drawings, always nice, and a Foxy head! Which we think to be authentic…then again it might just be another crappy cosplay, and we found a desk fan, very old school - metal, though, so watch the fingers.”

Christopher slapped Amber’s curious hand that was inching towards the old desk fan.

“Ow!” she whined.

“Uh-heh…” Scooby coughed “Uh… Right now the place is basically just, you know, flashing lights, spooky props. Uh, I honestly thought we would have more by now, uh, we don't have something really cool by next week, we may have to suit you up in a furry suit, and make you walk around saying, ‘Boo’.”

“Chris, you can do that,” Amber immediately said.

“No, you’re the actress!  And besides, I’d be a better security guard than you.”

“I’m not prancing around in an embarrassing Fredbear suit!” Amber shrieked.

“Uh…” Scooby’s voice cut their fight again “But, you know, like I said, we're trying to track down a good lead right now. Uh, some guy who helped design one of the buildings says there was, like, an extra room that got boarded up or- uh, something like that. So, we're gonna take a peek and see what we can find.”

“Yeah, sure!” Amber sneered “Have all the fun while we’re stuck here.”

“Uh, for now just get comfortable with the new setup, um… You can check the security cameras over to your right with a click of that blue button.”

Christopher checked through the cameras as Scooby continued to talk.

“Uh, you can toggle between the hall cams and the vent cams… Uh, then over to your far left, uh, you can flip up your maintenance panel.”

Amber skittered over to the maintenance panel.

“Y'know, use this to reboot any systems that may go offline. Heh. So, in trying to make the place feel vintage we may have overdone it a bit, hehe...”

“A bit?” Amber raised an eyebrow as she rebooted the cameras when Christopher pointed to a static screen.

“Some of this equipment is barely functional. Yeah, I wasn't joking about the fire. Tha-tha-that's a real risk.”

“Good thing we did fire drills then,” Christopher smirked as Amber paled.

“Uh, the most important thing you want to watch for is the ventilation. Look, this place will give you the spooks, dudes, and if you let that ventilation go offline, then you'll start seeing some crazy stuff, dudes. Keep that air flowing. Okay, keep an eye on things, and we'll try to have something new for ya tomorrow night.”

“Yeah, see ya,” Christopher nodded as he hung up.

“I hate this job,” Amber scowled as she rebooted the ventilation system.

“Well, whatcha going to do?” Christopher shrugged.

They smiled at one another before getting to work on a very boring night at the attraction.

 

* * *

 

**In the next chapter…**

_“You’re not gonna believe this, we found one.”_

_“Welcome to your new career as a performer/entertainer for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.”_

_“Chris, it’s staring right at me…”_


End file.
